The Common Thread
by jylener22
Summary: Orihime once said she wished she could live through five lifetimes and fall in love with the same man every time...what if she got an opportunity to do just that? Would she truly fall in love with the same person in every lifetime? Is he always the same?
1. How it all started

The Common Thread: Part 1

"It's summer time!"

"Keigo! Watch the-"

Clunk. Pause.

"Owwwiiiieeee!"

Deep sigh before, "Why can't you ever watch where you're going?"

"Hey guys wait up!"

"Oh. Hey Tatsuki."

"What happened to Keigo?"

"The usual. He got overexcited and didn't look where he was going."

As her friends chatted easily while getting ready to head home after a long last day of school before summer break, Orihime hung back and simply observed them all from a slight distance.

Lately, she had been in a reflective mood over different things for the past week or so. The fact that this was going to be their last summer as high school students before they graduated next year was what she found herself thinking about most often. Looking at each of her friends talking and laughing together made her grateful that they had become so close over the past couple of years, but she was also worried that this would be their last year together before everyone started going their separate ways and possibly forgetting about the bonds of friendship that they had forged together. She would mentally scold herself and say that there was no possible way that any of her friends would ever forget about all they had been through together, but some tiny part of her still despaired that time and distance away from each other would change everything.

Orihime was brought back to the present when Tatsuki called to her, "Hey there slowpoke! I don't want to stay in this building a minute longer than I have to, so let's get moving."

Allowing a smile to brighten her features, Orihime replied, "I'm coming!"

Falling into step beside her friends, Orihime forced herself to relax and act naturally since she reasoned that there was no reason to freak out about the future just yet. She should enjoy this time with her friends while it lasted, and worry about the changes that might come next year. They still had one more year of high school together before anything changed.

Pulling her mind back to the present, her heart sank as she realized that her friends were already discussing their plans about what they would do after high school.

"Well, the dojo that I've gone to all these years has asked me if I want to start working there as an instructor, so I thought I would work there over the summer now and see if I like it enough," Tatsuki was saying.

Ichigo looked at Tatsuki searchingly as he asked, "Why would they want you to be an instructor?"

Tatsuki looked directly at Ichigo as she answered, "Because I have high standards for my students and expect them to be met. I have even higher ones for myself in order to keep myself in prime condition at all times."

"So?"

"So what?"

"How long do the students actually stay with you?"

Tatsuki gave Ichigo a menacing look, "Long enough for me to teach them that if they want to be a snot-nosed, cry-baby that they need to find another dojo with an instructor who cares."

Uryu mumbled to himself, "So very effective and yet counterintuitive at the same time. It could almost be an oxymoron."

Tatsuki whirled on Uryu with her fists half raised, "Did you just call me an ox and a moron?"

Uryu was so shocked by the ludicrous statement that he stood stock still for a moment before he asked Ichigo out of the corner of his mouth, "Is she really serious?"

Tatsuki cut Ichigo off before he could reply, "I asked you a question, Four Eyes, and don't you go looking to Ichigo to back you up! Be a man and answer my question! Did you just call me an ox and a moron? Answer me before I knock your teeth out through the back of your head!"

Adjusting his glasses awkwardly, Uryu replied, "No, I said oxymoron which is a word that refers to two things contradicting one another. I did not insult you by associating you with a beast of burden or a word commonly used to describe an idiot."

Tatsuki's fists lowered, "Well, as long as you didn't call me an ox and a moron, I guess I'll let it slide this time."

Orihime couldn't help but want to laugh at the end of the argument and from what she could tell the others had found the exchange amusing as well, but before anyone could say anything to ruin the tentative peace between the two feuding friends, Orihime walked over to Tatsuki and linked arms with her.

"I have something I want to tell you, so let's go ahead a little ways."

"Fine with me."

As they began to walk away, Ichigo called after them, "What's so important that it couldn't wait? Or why don't you think that you can talk in front of us?"

Tatsuki replied, "Well, I'm sure it could wait forever, and some of you can be dense enough not to really get what goes on in a girl's head even if we were to spell things out for you…but I can't let you guys listen in to whatever Orihime's going to tell me on principal."

With that, the two girls walked a little ahead of the rest of the group as the guys started bantering and bickering amongst themselves.

Tatsuki turned to Orihime and asked, "So, what's up?"

Orihime answered, "It's probably nothing."

"Spit it out and we'll see."

Orihime took a deep breath before she began, "Lately, I haven't been feeling quite myself. I've been thinking more and more about what's going to happen to all of us once we graduate. What's going to happen to our friendship? I can't help but feel that once we go our separate ways that the bonds we have created over the past couple of years with each other will begin to break from the time and distance away from each other increases. I'm being silly and I keep trying to tell myself that there will never be a time that we ever completely forget each other since the bonds we have created are so strong through our life and death struggles over the past couple of years are not going to be severed by something so menial. But the fear is there just the same."

Tatsuki paused after Orihime's speech before she replied, "You're right. This kind of thinking is completely unlike you. However, if I try to put myself in your position, I kind of see where you're coming from. You don't have any family to rely on unlike most of us do, so we are really all you have. However, just because we are your closest friends now, doesn't mean that you won't make new friends in the future."

Orihime looked thoughtful as Tatsuki continued, "Besides, as you said, with all the stuff we have all gone through together, I doubt that even graduation will be able to separate us for very long. If what I gather is accurate from the rest of the guys, most of them are not planning on moving at all from Karakura. Ichigo for sure is not going anywhere, which might be nice for you."

Orihime gave Tatsuki a scandalized look as she squeaked, "What are you trying to say?"

Tatsuki grinned at her, "Just that if Ichigo doesn't get his eyesight fixed soon where you are concerned, then I might have to kick his butt in gear. Only a complete ox and moron wouldn't be able to see just how great a girl you are and how much you like Ichigo."

Orihime was about to reply, when suddenly they heard a cry of, "Stop thief!" from up ahead of them. All of a sudden, an average sized man started sprinting in their direction and Tatsuki dropped down into a defensive stance.

"End of the line bucko," said Tatsuki as she gave the guy two hefty punches that knocked him off his feet, successfully ending his flight.

The problem with Tatsuki's strategy was that she had failed to realize where the guy would go next after she was finished with him. The guy flew into Orihime and sent her flying out into the street.

Two sounds managed to reach Orihime before she was struck by something solid and thrown into unconsciousness. The first sound was screeching tires attempting to stop. The other was Ichigo screaming her name.

**Author's Note:**

So, I have to be honest about the inspiration for this entire story because I have to give credit where credit is due. The entire idea for The Common Thread came from two sources. One, was the quote by Orihime saying how she wished she could live five lifetimes, etc. (I don't know the whole quote, so I won't post it here. If you are curious, she says it in episode 141 of the anime.) And secondly, on I saw this series of pictures drawn by nekosaiko about her interpretation of what those five lifetimes might look like. As soon as I saw those pictures, I really, REALLY wanted to write about what those lifetimes might actually be like, so after I asked if that was ok with nekosaiko, I started working on this story and here is the result.

If you care to take a look at the pictures, go to , type in 'nekosaiko', click search then on any of the pictures that pop up, scroll down a bit until you see about three small pictures on the right side of your screen and below the pictures is a link that says 'View Gallery, then find the folder that says 'doujin for sale' and the pictures I am referring to are the very first ones you will see in that folder. Hopefully all those directions make sense, because for whatever reason, I couldn't post a link here...or maybe I didn't do it right...I don't know...if you have any questions or would like me to send you the link directly, I'll see what I can do. :)

The pictures are positively STUNNING, so I highly recommend you go and take a look. Just so you know, the stories are loosely based off of the pictures, in that I will be developing lifetimes in the different time periods nekosaiko drew, but like the wedding scene in one of those pictures, I won't actually have that version of Ichigo and Orihime get married since I think it would be really weird for Orihime to get married in one lifetime and then move forward…just seems odd to me.

Hope this makes sense and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm always willing to help clear up any misunderstandings my writings might have caused.

Enjoy!


	2. What is going on?

The Common Thread: Part 2

Before Orihime fully regained her senses, three things seemed to strike her as odd. First, she felt overwhelmingly hot. Second, the sun was almost unbearably bright on her closed eyes. And lastly, the sand that seemed to have found its way into her mouth and nestled amongst her teeth was immensely annoying. As she tried to open her eyes and assess her situation, she suddenly realized that something wasn't right and sat bolt upright which she regretted immediately since her head began to spin and she flopped back down onto the hot sand until her head cleared.

When she felt slightly better, Orihime gingerly rolled herself onto her stomach and shaded her eyes in order to get her bearings. The sight that met her eyes only compounded her confusion.

"I'm in the middle of the desert," Orihime thought aloud, "I'm in the middle of the desert with no idea how I got here. It's doubtful that the car could have knocked me so far out of Karakura Town, but this could be some sort of hallucination that my brain is developing as I lie in a coma in some hospital."

The only problem with this theory was the fact that everything felt so real, from the sun beating down on her back to the sand shifting slightly with her every movement, but she decided that for the time being she would hold onto that theory at any cost.

"So, if this is a dream, what happens now?"

As soon as the thought exited her mouth, Orihime vaguely heard a sound similar to thunder coming towards her. Slowly pushing herself into a sitting position, Orihime listened as the sound came close enough for her to identify the sound as approaching horses.

"So it looks like this is going to be a Western dream."

It didn't take long for the horses and their riders to appear over a nearby hill and Orihime counted about five riders in the group. Not long after the first group made their way over the hill, another group came in hot pursuit and there were about seven figures in this posse.

"I wonder which group is the good guys and which are the bad guys, since this is a Western."

Orihime would soon find out as the first group suddenly swerved in her direction. For some reason, Orihime believed that since she was obviously seeing this scene play out in her own dream that the horsemen would not notice her or even see her. She could not have been further from the truth. Before she had any time to react, the lead horseman leaned precariously out of his saddle and scooped her off the ground in one fluid motion. Orihime was so surprised by this new turn of events that at first she did not react. That was until she felt something hard and usually cold press against her temple.

"Stop where you are or I'll shoot this girl!" the man who had swept Orihime onto his horse said.

His voice was muffled somewhat by a bandana tied around the lower part of his face, but that did not make his words any less clear nor did it do anything to lessen the stench of his breath as he continued, "You give us ten minutes to clear the area or you'll be digging graves before the day it out."

During this monologue, all horses had come to a halt and there was a kind of standoff between the group that Orihime now knew to be the bandits and those whom she hoped were some sort of law enforcement. She really wished that she could make a run for it, but her head still swam for some reason and she knew that if she fell from the tall horse that she would be no better off, probably even worse since the possibility of someone's horse trampling her became a likely scenario. Orihime decided that it would be prudent to wait for the time being and hope that things wouldn't end in a gun fight. She still thought this was a dream, but she seemed to be able to feel things quite well in dreams and she had no desire to find out what it felt like to be shot.

After a few moments, one of the men on the other side spoke up, "I'll let you have a head start, but I won't let you take that girl with you."

The man holding Orihime laughed coldly, "And what makes you so sure that I'll just hand her over? Maybe my men and I should just shoot you and the girl and then escape with no one to follow us."

The lawman pushed his hat back slightly as he replied, "Oh, I have no doubt that you would have shot us all a couple of minutes ago if you and your men had enough ammunition. If I had to guess, you maybe have two or three bullets in your own gun and your men are likely out. On the other hand, my men and I have plenty of ammo left to finish off you and your entire gang."

"Then why don't you?"

Deep sigh, "Because I would hate for that pretty little miss to get caught in the crossfire. Besides, our orders were to bring you back alive."

"I never took you for one who followed orders."

"Just goes to show how much you know. Personally, I'd rather kill you here and be done with it, but if I think about it, it's cheaper to let you swing on a rope."

Orihime could hear the man grind his teeth as he growled, "You know, I do have one bullet that seems to have your name on it."

The other man shrugged nonchalantly, "Fine with me. My life is of no particular importance right now. I think that you're a smart enough man to figure out that even after you do manage to kill me, you're not going to live more than a few seconds longer than me."

Orihime's captor thought for a few moments before he asked, "What if I hand this girl over to you?"

A moment's pause before, "If you hand her over peacefully, I might reconsider letting you gents have a head start on us."

"You come over and grab the girl from me. Get off your horse."

Orihime heard the lawman sigh in resignation as he dismounted and began to make his way over to the band of miscreants. One of the other riders said something him as he was walking past and he answered curtly, before making his way over to the man holding Orihime.

The man stopped at the horse's side and gazed up into Orihime's eyes and Orihime was struck by a familiar light inside those brown eyes. Everyone in either party wore a bandana that covered the lower part of their face to shield them from the unmerciful sun, so Orihime could not be entirely sure about her hunch, but she was fairly positive that she had seen this specific pair of eyes before many times.

He spoke to her kindly, "Hey there, little lady. Sorry about involving you in this mess."

Orihime was about to respond when suddenly the man holding her removed the pistol away from her head and shoved her unceremoniously from his horse. She let out a squeak of surprise as she fell from the horse and the man beneath her barely reacted fast enough to catch her before she hit the sand. Without wasting another second, the band of miscreants turned and pelted away, kicking up sand as they made good on their escape.

The man who had caught Orihime had instinctively jumped away from the horse the moment he had Orihime securely in his arms and turned away with her so that neither of them would be blasted in the face with sand as the convicts made their exit.

When the sand died down, Orihime's rescuer said, "That could have gone worse."

Another voice rose from the group, "It could have gone a lot better too. What's the big idea letting them get away like that?"

Turning to face the group the man answered, "Well, Reggi, I can't really think of anything else that I could have done in that situation, can you?"

The man named Reggi grumbled, "You could have let us shoot them."

"As I said, our orders were to bring them back alive. And in case you had forgotten, I had the group split up and travel slightly to the right of us, just in case we needed to cut off their pursuit. McClagghan and his gang should be rounded up by Banya and the others shortly."

As if to confirm this statement, two shots went off close by.

Orihime thought this was as good a time as any to remind them of her presence, "Um, thank you for saving me."

The man looked down and seemed surprised for a moment to find that he held a young woman in his arms, but then he shook himself and said, "I'm sorry about that. Are you all right?"

As he set her on her feet, she tried to force the dizziness in her head to go away as she said, "Oh yes. I'm fine."

It took about two seconds for her to prove that she was anything but fine. Standing on her own two feet made her feel worse than when she had simply sat up earlier. She swayed precariously before the man quickly steadied Orihime once more.

"You don't look fine, but that could be because you're dehydrated. C'mon, I'll help you over to my horse and I think I might have a little water for you."

Orihime smiled shakily as she tried to force her legs to cooperate so that the man wouldn't feel obligated to carry her again. However, after only three painstaking steps, the man swept Orihime into his arms once again and held her securely against his chest.

"Hey Reggi!" the man called as he made his way over to his horse, "Help me for a moment, would you?"

Reggi grumbled as he climbed out of his saddle and walked over to meet his leader. Reggi grudgingly accepted Orihime as the leader climbed into his saddle and then handed her up to the leader when he was all situated.

As he walked back to his own horse, Reggi mumbled, "You'd think that girl was royalty with the way Irodonio's treating her."

"Oh leave the girl alone, Reggi," said a distinctly female voice from among the group, "It's not like she asked to be swept up in all this."

The man holding Orihime, who she assumed was named Irodonio, replied, "Raquina's right, Reggi. You're being too hard on this poor girl. Let's get back to town and meet up with Banya and the others so that we can help them take care of the prisoners."

As they rode off, Orihime couldn't help but question her own conviction about this whole scenario being a dream. The uncomfortable feeling of bouncing up and down on a horse seemed real enough as well as the strong and gentle arms keeping her from falling again.

**Author's Note:**

Hello again! Hope you are enjoying my story so far and it is making sense. I just thought I'd take a moment to explain a little about my desire to change everyone's names and give you a full list of who's who for this lifetime, which I plan to do for each of the four lifetimes so that you can keep track of everybody.

First, in explanation for my choosing to change the characters' names except for Orihime's (there will be a couple of characters in the future whose names will remain the same because I couldn't think of good replacements), my goal in each lifetime is to show how depending on the circumstances and surroundings one grows up with and the choices one makes, people could turn out slightly different. In these four lifetimes, I will be taking liberties with the Kubo's characters' and their personalities and in order for you to distinguish between them, I decided to change the names to show that while they can have a lot of the same qualities as Kubo's different characters, they can be somewhat different. I think you will see the most dramatic differences in Ichigo in each lifetime and that I have done on purpose. I hope you will enjoy my different versions of Ichigo as we go to the different lifetimes.

My formula for the name changes is that I keep the first and last letters of the characters' names the same and then move on from there. I do like coming up with creative names, so I had a lot of fun with this. I am going to give you a complete list here in the first chapter of all the different characters who are going to show up in **this** lifetime and I will do the same thing when I move on to a new lifetime. So here we go:

Irodonio-Ichigo

Raquina-Rukia

Reggi-Renji

Banya-Byakuya

Tornio-Toshiro

Hani-Hinamori

Adin-Aizen

Yakima-Yumichika

Idu-Ikkaku

Mr. Ura-Urahara

Yori-Yoruichi

Uru-Ururu

Kaya-Kira

Jania-Jinta

Shani-Shuhei

So, I think that is everybody. If I missed anyone, feel free to send me a comment and ask for an explanation and I'd be happy to answer your questions. In this story, there will be a couple of characters (besides Ichigo and Orihime) who pop up in more than one lifetime, but for the most part if a character shows up in a lifetime, more than likely they won't come back again since keeping track of so many characters would completely muddle the storylines among other things.

I hope you enjoy working your way through these different lifetimes with me!


	3. Arrival

The Common Thread: Part 3

A sensation of falling woke Orihime suddenly. Reacting instinctively, she jerked her mind and body back into commission and felt one of her hands connect with something that grunted.

"Ow!" a familiar voice said, "Would you stop struggling? I almost dropped you, you silly girl!"

Orihime was mortified to discover that she had fallen asleep atop Irodonio's horse (in his arms, but she preferred to ignore that point for the time being since it was quite embarrassing) and the falling sensation had been Irodonio gently lifting her off the horse and into Reggi's arms.

Her face flushed crimson, Orihime tried to apologize, "I'm so very sorry, I had no idea that we had stopped and I didn't realize that I had fallen asleep which was really horrible of me since you all are the ones who were chasing after those bandits in the hot sun and all I did was simply get in the way, but thank you very much for saving me. I think you can put me down now, I'm sure my legs will work just fine this time. I don't want to inconvenience you any-"

Orihime was talking so fast that half of her words were incoherent. Also, because she was so flustered, Orihime didn't notice her original rescuer dismounting his horse and walking over to where Reggi stood holding her. Without a word, Irodonio swept Orihime away from Reggi and began walking with her towards a building with the sign 'Ura General Store' boldly hanging over the entrance in bright yellow letters. Orihime turned in Irodonio's arms when she heard a yelp of pain from behind her.

Reggi was holding his head and yelling a short figure next to him, "What's the big idea, Raquina?"

The shorter figure pulled her bandana down to reveal a shockingly familiar face with the usual grimace of forced patience as she said, "Will you quit being such a big pain? The poor girl barely even touches you and you start howling like a jackal's just bit your ankle."

The two of them continued arguing as the rest of the group followed Irodonio into the cool shade of the general store. They had all lowered their bandanas and it was all Orihime could do not to gasp in surprise at recognizing all of the faces gathered. Then again, she told herself, I really shouldn't be surprised since if this really is a dream then it would make sense for all my friends to show up at some point.

Looking around, Orihime recognized the two arguing figures as Rukia and Renji, but now she would have to refer to them as Raquina and Reggi. There was also Shuhei, Ikkaku and Yumichika following Irodonio inside and she would have to figure out their names a little later. She looked up into Irodonio's face and saw that he had yet to lower his bandana, but she had a funny feeling that she already knew who he was going to be and the thought made her blush all the more.

A familiar breezy voice brought her back with the words, "My, my Irodonio. You go out into the desert with orders to bring back five ruthless bandits, and here you come back bearing a lovely desert flower instead."

The voice belonged to the ever cheerful Urahara, but now rechristened as 'Mr. Ura' in this hot desert town. Mr. Ura was wearing what could be termed as a general store manager outfit, only with his shirt being the same bright shade of yellow as the sign outside and his apron being a vibrant shade of purple.

"Banya and the others should be coming along soon with our intended target. This desert flower just needs a little water and rest to bring the roses back to her cheeks," replied Irodonio.

"Well, if I'm not mistaken, the roses have already begun to bloom on her cheeks," said Mr. Ura, which only made Orihime blush all the more as she tried to stammer out her thanks and assurances that she was perfectly fine now.

Mr. Ura held up a hand as he halted Orihime's chatter, "Now, now. There's no need to fret. I'm sure that you are exhausted after such an arduous ordeal as what you must have gone through."

Turning his head, Mr. Ura called into the back room, "Jania! Uru! Yori! Will you come here for a minute please?"

The figures of those whom Orihime knew as Jinta, Ururu and Yoruichi came into view.

Yori took one look at Orihime resting in Irodonio's arms and suddenly began giving orders, "Uru, go and get the soft quilt airing outside. It should be light enough for this weather. Jania, go and ask Tei to put together a platter with a couple of biscuits and a bowl of whatever broth he has on hand or a vegetable soup if that's possible. Irodonio, you bring that young lady back here so she can relax in a real bed."

All orders were obeyed promptly and efficiently with only Mr. Ura protesting, "Hey! What about me?"

Yori rolled her eyes, "I don't know. Organize the shelves or something."

They left Mr. Ura dejectedly looking at the shelves as Irodonio followed Yori into the back where there was a set of stairs leading to the upper floor and the more hospitable part of the building.

Yori explained as they walked upstairs, "The guest room hasn't been dusted in a while, but I'll have Uru take care of that as soon as possible."

Orihime began to protest, "Oh, I'm sure the room will be fine. You really don't have to overwork yourselves just for me."

Yori gave Orihime a firm yet kind look as she replied, "It's no trouble at all. I can tell that you're in desperate need of a good meal and a long rest and these are things I can provide. Don't worry about anything."

Orihime nodded as they arrived at the room. The only furniture in the room was the bed and a kind of nightstand with a solitary picture of a flower garden hanging on the wall. It was perfect.

Irodonio gently laid Orihime on the bed as he said, "There you go. I'll leave you ladies in peace."

Orihime reached for his arm awkwardly, but then stopped herself as she didn't want to bother her savior anymore. He seemed to sense her embarrassment and turned to look at her, lowering his bandana at last. It shouldn't have been possible, but Orihime's face turned a shade deeper than crimson as she did her best to look into the face and eyes of her first love, Ichigo, who was now her Western hero known as Irodonio.

"Thank you for saving me," she stammered helplessly, "I don't know how I'm ever going to repay you."

Orihime was torn between mortification and giddy joy as Irodonio gently grasped her chin and looked into her eyes saying, "Don't ever think of paying me back. Saving you was my pleasure. Understand?"

"Yes," Orihime answered softly as she tried to keep her voice and body from trembling at his soft touch.

Irodonio nodded in satisfaction as he turned and made his exit. Just as Orihime began to breathe normally again, Irodonio popped his head back in the room.

"By the way, I never did catch your name. I would like to know by what name such a rare and beautiful desert flower goes by."

"Orihime," she said softly.

Irodonio repeated her name in such a tender tone that Orihime wanted to duck under the covers on the bed in embarrassment, "Orihime. Such an exquisite name for such an exotic flower. I like it. Orihime. Orihime."

Yori finally walked over and shoved Irodonio's head out of the doorway as she said, "All right, lover-boy. Time to let the exotic flower rest before you drown her in your romantic dribble."

Turning to Orihime, Yori said in an exasperated tone, "Honestly. Men."

Orihime was sure that if this was a dream, then it was certainly one of the strangest that she had ever had.


	4. One happy family

The Common Thread: Part 4

After a delicious meal (Orihime was really glad that Yori had let her eat in her room since she had probably resembled a starved animal as she was eating) and falling asleep for the rest of the day into the next morning, Orihime awoke feeling refreshed and much more like herself. She got up and put on the clothes that Yori had laid out for her the night before, then made her way lightly downstairs, where she could smell breakfast cooking. Orihime felt slightly embarrassed that she should feel so hungry after all the food she had eaten the day before, but there was nothing else to do except for quench the hunger once again.

Even though she had no idea where anything was located in the house, Orihime managed to find the kitchen and dining area by allowing the fragrant smells of breakfast guide her. In the kitchen, she saw a tall man facing the stove cooking bacon and sausage as Jania set the table and Uru worked on making pancakes and scrambled eggs. Orihime knew the tall man as Tessai, but assumed that he was now to be called Tei.

As Orihime entered the kitchen, Uru looked up and gave a small smile saying, "Good morning, Miss Orihime. I hope you slept well."

Jania spared Orihime a small glance before turned to take out the silverware and mumbled, "She'd better have 'because I'm not waiting on her hand and foot."

Orihime answered Uru's question kindly before the girl could rebuke the boy, saying, "I slept better than I have in a while. I truly appreciate everyone's kind treatment of me and I hope I can be of some help in return."

"Just standing there looking beautiful is the greatest gift of appreciation you could give," came Irodonio's voice from the doorway.

As she turned to face him, Orihime fought valiantly to keep her cheeks from burning and ruining her look of composure. She almost lost the battle when she saw Irodonio leaning against the doorframe and giving her such a genuine, easy, teeth-filled smile and looking at her with such a charming expression that Orihime had to lock her knees to keep them from buckling underneath her. Never in her life had Ichigo looked at her with such an expression and so Orihime was totally unprepared to deal with it.

Fortunately, she was saved when Irodonio's head snapped forward and he stumbled awkwardly into the room after Yori cuffed the back of his head saying, "That's enough nonsense out of you today. We haven't even gotten through breakfast and you're already trying to sneak away with this poor girl's heart. Personally, I think you sound ridiculous."

Mr. Ura's voice came from behind Yori as he said, "That's because you don't have a romantic bone in your body."

Yori rolled her eyes, "That's because I gave them to you."

Before Mr. Ura could retort, he was interrupted by the cry, "I'm starving, Tei! Is the grub ready yet?"

Reggi's demand was answered in the form of a swift kick to the back of his leg by Raquina, so he whirled around to face his attacker with the words, "Would you stop doing that? What'd I do this time?"

Raquina did not even bother to give him a look of disdain as she replied, "Same thing you always do: you act like an idiot."

Reggi's complaints continued a little while longer as the rest of the group settled themselves around the table, until Yori gave Reggi a menacing look and he quit whining. When everyone was sitting comfortably, there was an extra moment or two where everyone reflected before they started filling their plates with the wonderfully aromatic food. As is often the case, the food tasted even better than it smelled and conversation flowed easily around the table. From what Orihime gathered, the men who looked like Shuhei, Ikkaku and Yumichika were named Shani, Idu and Yachi in this world. The group was finished by Banya, Tornio, Kaya and Hani, who looked like Byakuya, Toshiro, Kira and Hinamori. Orihime also discovered that Irodonio and most of the others made their living as bounty hunters. Those who worked in the general store would help out with capturing the more dangerous criminals and when they weren't chasing after a bounty, Irodonio and the others would help out around the store and other establishments. The town was called Heartland Falls and it basically consisted of those sitting around the table along with a select few other residents. A peaceful and rather secluded town all in all.

Orihime's attention was brought back to the present when Raquina, who was sitting next to her, asked, "So, Orihime, right?"

"Yes, that's my name."

"So Orihime, if you don't mind my asking, how did you come to be stranded out in the middle of the desert like that?"

Thinking hard to come up with some rational explanation, Orihime answered uncertainly, "I'm not entirely sure of that myself. One minute I'm walking down the street with my friends, then something hits me from behind knocking me out and when I wake up I find myself in the middle of the desert."

Hani spoke up in a concerned tone, "That sounds like a terrible ordeal."

Orihime shook her head nervously as she answered, "Not for me since you all rescued me from the desert. I just don't know what my friends think happened to me."

Mr. Ura asked, "Well, where do you live? Maybe we could send a letter or something letting them know you are safe so they won't have to worry."

"I live in Karakura Town."

Blank stares followed this explanation before Yori asked, "I've never heard of it. Is it anywhere near here?"

Orihime blushed as she lowered her eyes, "I have no idea."

Her blush was deepened when Reggi spoke up saying, "How can you not know where it is? Can you not read a map or something? And why would someone knock you out and then dump you in the middle-OW! Would you stop that?"

Reggi's tirade of questions was abruptly interrupted by Raquina giving him a hard kick under the table as she ordered, "I'll stop when you actually start showing signs of intelligence and learn that you can't act like an idiot!"

"I was just trying to figure out why she doesn't even know how to get back home from here!"

Shani broke up the bickering duo saying quietly, "If what I gather is correct, of course Orihime would have no idea how to get home since she was unconscious for the journey to the desert. We'll just have to try to find this Karakura Town or someone who knows where it is."

Mr. Ura smoothly inserted his idea as he said, "In the meantime, Orihime is welcome to stay here until we figure out where Karakura Town is. Any objections?"

Reggi's mumbled complaints were ignored as he was directing his thoughts towards a shorter and darker haired female than Orihime and other than Reggi, no other complaints were voiced.

Mr. Ura smiled as he said, "Well, now that we've got that piece of business out of the way, let's discuss the new job that just came in for us."

Idu was eager as he asked, "Is this one more challenging? Please, say it's more interesting than the last one."

Mr. Ura raised his eyebrows as he answered, "I think it is going to be much more interesting since we are trying to apprehend someone whom we all know."

An unnatural silence settled over the group as Mr. Ura continued, "As you might have guessed, our new job requires us to capture Adin and his men. If my information is correct, they will be coming through here in the next day or so. Our employer would prefer the targets to remain alive, but would not complain if we have to resort to extreme measures in order to bring these criminals in."

Idu bounded out of his chair as he exclaimed, "At last! A challenging job!"

Banya looked at the overexcited bounty hunter as he said coldly, "You do realize who we're up against don't you?"

Idu replied disdainfully, "Of course I do, which will make this victory all the more sweet once we conquer them."

Hani quietly excused herself and quickly exited the room. After Hani had left the room, Yori walked over to Idu and gave him a firm swat on the back of his head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

Yori stated matter-of-factly, "For being an insensitive brute."

"For crying out loud, can't a guy simply express his enthusiasm for a bit of needed exercise after all these pushover jobs we've been getting?"

"Not when the leader of the group we are supposed to take in is the legal adopted brother of one of our family."

Idu looked confused, "But we're not a real family are we?"

Mr. Ura answered, "No, not in the technical sense, but we have banded together to form a kind of family so we should look out for each other. And Yori is right, you should not be quite so excited about fighting Hani's real brother."

"But he's not Hani's real brother. He's just her adopted brother."

Yori hit him harder this time as she said, "Despite what he has become now, Adin raised Hani after he took her out of a harsh situation with her birth parents."

Orihime said softly, "Just like me."

Raquina turned to Orihime and asked, "What did you say?"

Orihime looked sympathetically at the door and rose to leave as she said, "I was raised by my older brother as well. Our parents weren't kind to us, so he took me away and supported us both."

"Where is your brother? Do you think he's looking for you?" Jania's asked Orihime before she left the kitchen.

Orihime turned around with a sad smile on her face as she answered, "My brother knows where I am because he's always with me," she laid a hand over her heart, "In here."

Giving the group a reassuring smile, Orihime left the kitchen to look for Hani. She found the girl sitting on the front steps of the store, head resting on her knees, seeming lost in thought, so Orihime simply sat down next to Hani and waited for her to speak first.

It was a few minutes before Hani said softly, "I'm sorry for making a scene back there. That was thoughtless of me to make everyone so uncomfortable."

Orihime waited a moment before she said, "You don't need to apologize. This might sound a little cliché, but I do know how you feel and what you're going through."

At Hani's confused look, Orihime continued, "I was raised by my older brother from when I was too young to remember my real parents. I am completely biased, but I would say that Sora was the best brother and father figure that any girl could ask for."

Hani gave Orihime a small smile, "We'd have to agree to disagree because I think Adin was the best brother in the whole world."

The two girls exchanged understanding glances before allowing a companionable silence to settle over them. They remained in that attitude for a time before the sound of approaching horses broke the silence. Turning to look into the distance, they observed a group of about four riders coming from the desert.

"He's here," Hani said simply, summing up the situation aptly with no trace of emotion in her voice.

Orihime laid a hand on the girl's arm before saying, "No one would blame you if you didn't take part in this fight."

Hani took a deep breath before she answered, "I know. But if I don't face him now, I don't think I'll ever be able to tell him…"

When Hani faltered for the words, Orihime gave Hani's arm a light squeeze, signaling that she understand the girl's desire. The two young women stood, preparing themselves for the upcoming confrontation.


	5. He surrendered?

The Common Thread: Part 5

Four words. Six syllables. One might think a simple sentence would not have a dramatic effect on a group of seasoned bounty hunters, but obviously that was not the case this time.

"We're turning ourselves in."

With those four words made up of six syllables, Adin was able to completely eradicate the need to resort to Irodonio's carefully laid plan.

"Come again?" asked Irodonio after a period of stunned silence.

Adin calmly replied, "We have come to turn ourselves in."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"Well that's just great!"

The last sentence came from Idu, whose tone of voice spoke of his lack of enthusiasm over this turn of events as he continued.

"What a complete waste of time! I get all excited thinking we were finally going to have a real challenge for a change and here they all but put the handcuffs on themselves! I'm starting to feel sick just standing here looking at these weaklings!"

Before anyone could say anything else, Mr. Ura stepped forward asking, "What's with this sudden change of heart?"

Adin pushed his hat back slightly as he answered, "I'm tired of running, constantly looking over my shoulder and fearing that a bullet could bump me off at any moment."

Reggi spoke up, "You expect us to simply believe you? How do we know that you don't have the rest of your gang surrounding us while we're distracted with your…"

"Conversion?" Raquina supplied.

"Yeah, that."

Kaya asked Irodonio, "What do you say?"

Irodonio looked thoughtful as he replied, "From what I can tell, they aren't carrying any weapons with them or hiding anything suspicious, so I guess they're serious."

Hani stepped up to Adin's horse and looked into his eyes as she asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm doing what I think is best for us both."

She gazed into his eyes and seemed to search earnestly for something before she took a step back and said, "All right then."

Irodonio took charge saying, "Ok, it's too late in the day to take you over to Calary Court House, so we'll have to put you all in the holding cell behind the store until the morning."

Adin gave him a small smile as he said, "How very kind."

As the others moved to take the group of four men into custody, Yakima asked Hani, "Where's Orihime? She was here just a minute ago."

Hani looked around saying, "I didn't realize she left. Maybe she went to get the holding cell ready or something."

Uru spoke up, "Oh no. Orihime left a while ago. She went around the side of the store almost immediately after Adin and his men rode up."

Hani looked concerned as she said, "I'll go see what's wrong."

Kaya moved to join her, when Hani held up her hand to stop him. He went to help the others with a resigned expression and Hani moved around the side of the shop to look for Orihime.

Hani spotted Orihime immediately standing perfectly still with her back facing Hani. In order to keep from startling Orihime, Hani made as much noise as possible with her feet and called Orihime's name. Apparently, Orihime was not too lost in thought as she turned around and met Hani's questioning gaze. Unnoticed by Hani, Orihime also dropped her left hand from the side of her head.

"Yes, Hani?"

"I was just wondering where you were. Uru said that you slipped away as soon as my brother and his cohorts arrived to turn themselves in. Are you all right?"

Orihime turned her gaze to the right slightly as she answered slowly, "I just needed a moment alone."

Hani waited for Orihime to continue before she stated matter-of-factly, "One of the men was your brother."

Orihime shook her head as she replied, "No, not my real brother. He died about five years ago. But one of your brother's men looks enough like Sora that he could almost be my brother's twin."

"I'm sorry."

Orihime smiled at Hani, "Thank you. I've always known that my brother found peace after he died, so it doesn't affect me as often anymore. Just seeing that man riding in a few moments ago…I knew I just needed to get away and collect my thoughts before I did something stupid in front of everyone."

Hani's face turned serious as she said, "Even though I haven't known you more than a day, I feel like I can trust you, Orihime."

Orihime understood where the conversation was going and said, "We need privacy. Let's go to my room."

Hani nodded and followed Orihime to the back of the store. As they began heading for the stairs leading to the upper floors of the store, they were stopped by Irodonio and the others coming inside after securing their prisoners.

Irodonio put on his most charming smile and directed it at the two young women as he addressed the other men, "Look at Hani and Orihime becoming best friends. I'll bet they're going upstairs for a bit of privacy for a very important conversation."

Orihime tried to act nonchalant as she asked, "Why do you care what we're doing? Shouldn't you be out there making sure Adin and the others don't escape?"

Irodonio gave a mock cry of pain, clutched his chest and collapsed against Reggi crying, "You wound me with your disdainful tone! My desert flower has sprouted thorns!"

Trying not to smile or give away her amusement, Orihime replied, "Apparently you are the opposite of 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me'."

"I could face a hundred soldiers with loaded guns and not lose my courage. Stampeding cattle could mow me down and I wouldn't even groan in pain. But one harsh word from your lips, and I will keel over on the spot and die."

Irodonio spoke with such overdone drama in his voice and expressions that Orihime was hard pressed not to react in any way to Irodonio's speech, especially since she had to force herself not to show any signs of weakness and keep her eyes focused on Irodonio's face. The other men looked exasperated by Irodonio's theatrics, but they obviously made no move to leave the scene of such a spectacle.

His monologue continued, "In this world there is darkness and there is light along with despair and happiness. All these things can be found within the depths of a woman's eyes and thus has an unshakable hold over any man brave enough to look deeply and earnestly into her eyes. It has been said that the eyes are the window to the soul and if you will but gaze into mine, dear angel, you would find a love so great and true that-OW!"

For the third time, Irodonio's romantic dribble was halted by a quick blow to the back of the head from Yori as she stated, "When will you ever learn? Going around spouting nonsense about the depths of eyes and stampeding cows is exactly that…nonsense! Why do you have to go around being such a romantic idiot?"

As the two began to bicker with one another, Orihime looked at Hani and the two young women exchanged a look of understanding and quietly made their way to the upper floor. Once Orihime had gently yet firmly closed the door behind them, she leaned against it, let out a deep breath and slowly allowed her mouth to unfold into a beaming smile.

A small giggle escaped her lips as she said to Hani, "Did that really just happen?"

Hani reflected Orihime's grin as she replied, "I think so. Irodonio must really like you."

Orihime turned her head to one side as she asked, "Why do you say that?"

Hani took a seat on Orihime's bed answering, "Well, he's always been a bit of a tease when it comes to girls that he likes. I've never seen him give such a speech before though."

Orihime shook her head as she said, "I've never met anyone like Irodonio, so I have no idea how to react to him."

"I thought you did a fine job back there."

Orihime laughed softly as she replied, "If his speech had gone on any longer, I would have lost it."

Turning serious, Orihime asked, "Anyway, what did you need to talk to me about?"

Hani took a deep breath before she replied, "My brother."

For the next hour or so, the two discussed what was to be done about Adin and his men since they had both sensed that something was going to happen that night. Neither Orihime nor Hani considered that they might have wanted to close the window to make sure that a person sitting on the roof would not be able to overhear them as they laid their plans.


	6. Confrontation

The Common Thread: Part 6

"I always thought having a stakeout would be fun," thought Orihime ruefully as she tried not to think about how uncomfortable she would be when she finally got a chance to stand up and stretch her cramped limbs, "They always look like fun in the movies."

Orihime mentally shook herself, trying not to let her eyes become unfocused from a combination of lack of sleep and sheer boredom. She and Hani had to remain alert and ready to stop whatever plan Adin had concocted. They had agreed that they wouldn't involve any of the others unless it became absolutely necessary and besides, they would look really silly if their hunches turned out to be incorrect. Also, Orihime had not confided this to Hani, but Orihime was convinced that if Irodonio especially had known that they wanted to hold a stakeout through the night he would find some way of staying close to Orihime in order to spout off more romantic dribble softly in her ears. Just the thought of him doing something so embarrassing made her want to tuck her head between her knees and moan in mortification, but she forced the thoughts from her mind and focused on the task at hand.

Such things are much easier said than done and it wasn't more than ten minutes later that Orihime was once again fighting vainly against the utter fatigue and boredom settling over her mind when she suddenly felt something happen. Instantly, Orihime all but stopped breathing entirely as she strained her ears to hear any sound at all, when she suddenly realized that she hadn't actually heard any sounds to begin with. Some sixth sense told her that something was happening despite the apparent calm settled over the area.

Idu was taking his turn on guard duty at this point in the night and he didn't seem to notice anything remiss since he was carelessly drawing his gun out of its holster, replacing it and then pulling it out again to twirl it between his hands.

Hani and Orihime had decided that it would be better if they did not hide next to each other so that Hani could confront her brother and Orihime could run for help if necessary. Also, if one of them was spotted by the night guards, then at least the other could stay and keep watch the rest of the night.

There had been four guard rotations for the past four hours, and the two young women had snuck outside during the previous rotation when Idu came to relieve Tornio from guard duty. They had almost been caught when the window creaked slightly as they opened it, but fortunately only Idu seemed to notice it and when Tornio claimed that he'd not heard anything Idu had shrugged his shoulders and bid Tornio good night.

Now after nearly half an hour of waiting, Orihime sensed that something was about to happen. She was proven right a few moments later when Idu suddenly stiffened and then began to crumple to the ground before two long arms reached through the cell bars and gently lowered the unconscious guard to the ground. Less than a minute later, the cell door eased open and Adin softly made his way out of the prison.

The half-moon in the sky gave enough light to illuminate Adin's face somewhat and show a satisfied grin stretch across his mouth briefly before he became focused on whatever task he had planned. Nodding to the men flanking him, they all noiselessly made their way to their horses tied up with the other horses. They each rummaged around in their own saddlebags and brought out four different items. Each was given to Adin and he began assembling something on the ground and eventually Orihime realized that it was an explosive of some kind. Even though Irodonio had gone through the saddlebags and other belongings of the bandits, of course they wouldn't have found anything suspicious since the dangerous items were packed as something harmless separately until they could be combined.

After he had finished, Adin turned and nodded at one of the men, who returned the nod and made his way towards the store.

"I'm right here, brother."

Hani's voice was slightly louder than a whisper, but carried easily through the still night air. She had emerged from her hiding place and stood looking across at her brother.

Adin slowly rose to his feet, shaking his head and saying just as softly, "It's a little late for you to be out of bed."

Hani replied firmly, "I'm not a little girl anymore, brother."

Adin looked at her saying softly, "I know, Hani. You've grown into quite the young lady."

Hani asked bluntly, "What are you doing?"

Adin raised his hands, "I'm doing what's best for both of us."

"I think it's a little too late for you to be worrying about my well-being now."

Adin paused for a moment before he replied, "I guess I deserved that. I hope it's not too late to ask you to forgive me for leaving you with these people for the past two years."

When Hani didn't answer right away, Adin started walking towards her, "I don't know if you'll believe me when I say this, but leaving you was the hardest thing I've done since I took you away from Mom and Dad all those years ago."

"Could have fooled me."

Before Adin could protest, Hani raised her hand, "I've forgiven you a long time ago for leaving me to go and seek your fortune in the world. You have your own life to live and what kind of sister would I be if I constantly clung to you and kept you from making your way in the world."

Adin's shoulders seemed to relax until Hani continued, "What I can't forgive you for is to go and seek your fortune by turning to crime. Even that might have been forgivable had you not gone and betrayed the friends and surrogate family that had taken us in all those years ago. Mr. Ura and the others saved us from dying in the desert after we ran away from our parents and gave us a new home."

Hani's voice began to tremble as she said, "How could you betray our friends like that? How could you let Yori's sister, Sieran, die like that right in front of you?"

Adin's arms stiffened as he answered, "I don't expect you to understand."

Hani covered the distance between them swiftly and grasped her brother's shirt as she demanded, "How can I understand when you run away from me? What happened to you, Adin? Tell me, please."

The last three words were barely distinguishable from where Orihime still hid, watching the scene with apprehension.

Adin merely said, "It's because I've never been as good and kind-hearted as you. None of this matters right now, though, because we need to get away."

Hani took a step back and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I have a job to do and I can't leave you here."

Hani paused for a moment before she said, "If you're going to kill them, then I'd rather die with them than go with you."

Adin stepped forward and grabbed Hani's arm as he said, "Look, just because I'm on the wrong side of the law now, doesn't mean that I've forgotten about my vow to keep you safe."

Hani laughed scornfully as she retorted, "Like you've been doing for the past two years?"

Adin growled, "I knew they wouldn't turn you away no matter what I might have done, but you're not safe here anymore. Mr. Ura's Shop has been targeted by some very influential men in the crime circle and it's only by chance that I managed to convince one of them to let me come and do the job so that I could get you out."

Hani yanked her arm free as she backed away and said, "As I said before, I'm old enough to make up my own mind now."

Before Adin could do anything else, a cold voice rang out, "You heard her. Back away."

Orihime barely managed to keep her shriek of surprise in check as she turned with everyone else to see who had spoken. It was Tornio and he had a gun trained on Adin. Tornio's eyes flashed dangerously in the moonlight as he walked towards the siblings.

With this eyes fixed on Adin, Tornio addressed Hani, "I must say, this was probably not one of your better plans. Although, now that I think about it, you could have come up with worse."

Hani only managed, "What…how…"

Tornio seemed to ignore Hani's stuttering and called softly, "Come out now, please."

It took a few moments for Orihime to realize that Tornio was talking to her and she sheepishly rose and asked, "When did you figure it out?"

"Not that it really matters right now, but while Irodonio was downstairs making a fool out of himself, I thought it would be a good idea to head outside and sit underneath your window so I could make sure that the two of you didn't try to do anything stupid and get yourselves hurt or killed."

"So, you knew we were coming outside and distracted Idu so that we could hide and then went to hide yourself as well."

Tornio nodded curtly as he addressed Adin, "I know that none of you have any weapons on you and even if you do, I'll take as many of you with me as I can. I also doubt you'll try anything since if my guess is correct, neither of us wants any harm to come to Hani."

"Tornio…" came Hani's questioning voice.

"I'm the same as your brother in some ways, Hani. When it comes to you, some of the things we do or the things we say might seem like we don't care, but we both are concerned about your well-being."

"Well, I, for one, am far more interested in beautiful desert flowers."

This time, Orihime could not quell her startled cry as Irodonio's voice suddenly sounded right next to her ear. Her body jerked in fright causing her feet to become tangled and sending her reeling towards the ground. Irodonio expertly swept her into his arms before Orihime hit the hard earth.

Smiling down at her, Irodonio said charmingly, "Why, hello there. It seems like only yesterday that I kept you from falling and hurting yourself on the sand and holding you in my arms like this, my exquisite Orihime."

Orihime averted her eyes and hoped that the moonlight wouldn't reveal just how red her face was as she stuttered, "That's because it was only yesterday."

Irodonio looked thoughtful as he said, "Was it? Time has seemed to flow differently ever since I met you. Must be the light from your eyes hypnot-"

Someone cleared their throat behind Irodonio in a meaningful way and he sighed in a resigned manner before he set Orihime on the ground saying, "I know, I know. Quit with the romantic mumbo jumbo, right?"

Yori's voice answered, "It's a miracle. He's actually learning."

Hani turned and asked in a dazed voice, "Is everyone here?"

Yori shook her head, "Nope. Just me and Irodonio because we're the lightest sleepers."

All this time, Adin's men had stood silently watching their boss handle the situation, but finally one of them spoke up saying, "I've had enough of this. Let's finish the job and get out of here."

Before anyone could react, the man picked up the device that Adin had put together, lit the fuse and threw it expertly through an open window into the shop. Orihime was the first to react as she bolted inside the store and looked frantically around for a moment before her eyes fell on the explosive lying on the kitchen floor. Shouts and two gunshots rang outside as she snatched the object off the floor and raced for the back door. Without hesitating she ran as fast as possible past Yori and Irodonio who were fighting with Adin's three henchmen. Tornio and Hani were struggling with Adin to the left of the store, but since Orihime was sprinting in the opposite direction, she didn't notice them grappling.

Irodonio called after her, "Throw it!"

Orihime heard him, but didn't have time to call back that even if she threw it as far as she possibly could right now, she had a feeling that the blast would still destroy the store. She had to take it farther.

"What are you doing, Orihime? Throw it!"

Risking a look over her shoulder, Orihime was startled to see how far she had run from the store. This was probably a safe distance.

Before Irodonio could yell for her to get rid of the explosive, Orihime threw it with all her might into the night, turned and forced her legs and burning lungs to make one last desperate sprint.

She felt rather than heard the explosion going off and a force like a punch in her back sent her flying forward and knocking her senseless.


	7. Back in Karakura

The Common Thread: Part 7

"Let me go!"

"That's enough, Tatsuki!"

"Please, Tatsuki, you have to calm down!"

"Let me go right now or I swear I'll beat your face in!"

Ichigo wanted desperately to fire back some comment like 'I'd like to see you try', but thought better of it at the last moment and said instead, "We don't know if she has any internal injuries, Tatsuki. You could make things worse."

That got through Tatsuki's hysteria enough to calm her down and Ichigo nodded at Chad that they could let her go now.

Turning his attention to Uryu, who had positioned himself in front of Orihime's still form to keep Tatsuki from flinging herself on top of the unconscious girl, Ichigo asked, "Did someone call?"

"Mizuiro called the hospital and the police right away. Help should be here soon."

Ichigo nodded and saw his friend now talking with the driver of the car. The driver was a man in his early twenties and seemed to be quite wealthy from the style of his clothes and the expensive looking sports car that he was driving. The man also had a female companion with him, who Ichigo guessed was probably his girlfriend. If it hadn't have been for Keigo's quick reactions after Orihime was hit, the guy would likely have driven off in his fright. As it was, Keigo had run over and grabbed the guy around the collar, since the car was a convertible and the top was down, and screamed for the guy to get out of the car immediately. The man had gotten out of the car, but only to yell at Keigo to get away from the car before it got scratched and Keigo found himself lying in a hospital bed.

At that point, Tatsuki, who had been too stunned to do anything, suddenly charged at the guy and Ichigo and Chad barely reacted fast enough to stop her from beating the rich snob to a pulp.

That had all happened in the space of about three minutes.

Now that Ichigo was sure that the situation was under control, he allowed his gaze to linger on Orihime's still body. Walking over to where she lay, Ichigo knelt beside her as the full impact of what had just happened hit him. Less than five minutes ago, Orihime had been walking just ahead of him with her face and eyes full of life and now she was lying in the middle of the street with her face pressed against the asphalt. She was so still and there was nothing he could do to help her. Orihime was always the one running to heal him and everyone else when they were seriously wounded without a moment's hesitation. Now she was the one who was hurt and it made Ichigo's stomach turn in anxiety.

After what seemed like an eternity, the police finally arrived on the scene, roping off the area, taking the purse-snatcher into custody (it was a testament to Tatsuki's skills as a fighter that the man had remained unconscious throughout the entire ordeal) and started to take down the driver's testimony as well as Keigo and Mizuiro's, who had become a buffer between Keigo and the driver after he had finished calling emergency services. A short while later, the ambulance arrived with the paramedics and they immediately began checking Orihime's vital signs and to see if she had any broken bones. A gurney was brought over and the paramedics gently turned Orihime over in order to lay her on the mattress.

Ichigo's heart almost stopped when he saw Orihime's face. There was a bruise forming on her right temple and a small trickle of blood leaked from the corner of her mouth. Yet despite the abrasions, Orihime's expression was one of calm serenity. If he didn't know better, Ichigo might have said she was dreaming of something pleasant. Her hair was splayed across her face and he found himself wanting to reach out and gently brush Orihime's hair back in place.

His wandering thoughts were suddenly arrested by the sound of the driver's voice rising in anger, saying, "I won't stand for this any longer! Look, I told you what happened and as you can clearly tell from my testimony and all the other testimonies, this whole mess is completely not my fault! So, let me go before I call my father and lawyers and have them sue you for detaining me for no reason! My father is the director of the Shirigari Corporation and has lots of connections, so I'm sure it wouldn't take more than one phone call before you lose your worthless job!"

Ichigo wanted to charge over there and beat the man senseless, but controlled his anger enough to call, "Hey, you! Rich, snot-nosed, brat!"

The driver turned slowly and asked, "Are you talking to me?"

Ichigo ignored the question and gestured to where the paramedics were still working on strapping Orihime to the gurney, "Accident or not, you hit this girl with your car, or your daddy's car since he probably bought it for you and pays for the insurance. Either way, you hit Orihime and you're going to take responsibility for this one way or another."

"As I've already said, she fell into the road before I had time to stop my car, so it was really her own fault."

Ichigo surged to his feet, and was about to give another retort, when Uryu grabbed his arm and yanked Ichigo around to face him saying, "It's no use trying to talk with that guy. He makes you look like a genius. Even Keigo can look smart compared to him, so just let it go because he's not worth it."

Ichigo was about to reply when he saw the paramedics begin to place Orihime in the ambulance and he walked quickly over without stopping to think twice.

"Is she going to be all right?" Ichigo asked while he again took in Orihime's expression.

The paramedic looked at Ichigo with sympathy and said, "So far as we can tell, there are no broken bones or damage to her spinal cord or anything like that. As for internal injuries and things of that nature, I can't really say. Is she your girlfriend?"

Ichigo started at the question and answered, "No. She's my good friend."

As he said those words, something about them didn't seem quite right. He couldn't put his finger on it, but just describing Orihime as a friend was inadequate.

The paramedic seemed nonplussed at this question and simply said, "All right, any one of you can ride in the ambulance with us if you want. Has someone called her family to let them know what happened?"

"She doesn't have any family."

At this response, the paramedic did look surprised and asked, "How old is she?"

Ichigo couldn't think for a moment, so Uryu, who had come up beside Ichigo, answered, "She is sixteen now and will turn seventeen on September 3."

Ichigo stared at Uryu, trying to figure out how he knew when Orihime's birthday was, as the paramedic responded, "Well, does anyone wish to travel with us to the hospital? We only have room for one and the rest of you can meet us at the hospital."

"I'll go," was out of Ichigo's mouth before he had a chance to process what he had just said and he climbed into the ambulance and sat down on a bench near Orihime's head.

The doors closed, the sirens began to wail and the ambulance started to move, slowly at first and then picking up speed. None of these things registered in Ichigo's brain as he was too lost in thought.

Now that Orihime was being taken care of by other professional healers, Ichigo allowed his mind to drift to something that had bothered him ever since he had witnessed Orihime flying into the street and being struck by that idiot's car. Directing his gaze to Orihime's tousled hair, Ichigo found what he was looking for. Still nestled just above her ears were the hairpins Sora had given Orihime which were now the manifestation of her spiritual power. Having assured himself that she had the pins, Ichigo forced himself to replay the scene of Orihime's accident in his mind trying to figure out what it was that bothered him about the incident.

Opening his eyes, it suddenly dawned on him. Orihime hadn't used her shield in order to protect herself from the oncoming car. Thinking back to the other times that he had seen Orihime use her shield technique, he became more and more convinced that even though the car had been moving a lot faster than it should have, that Orihime should have had enough time to erect her shield to protect herself from the car. From what he could remember, she hadn't.

"Why didn't you summon your shield, Orihime?" Ichigo mentally asked the unconscious girl, "Why didn't you protect yourself?"

Because she is just like you, a voice inside him answered, in that she doesn't care about her own personal safety as much as the well-being of those she cares about.

Thinking back, he could remember several examples of when she had been more concerned about protecting or healing him than with taking care of herself. Hadn't she run at Yammy when Ichigo's inner hollow had caused his body to stop moving, even though she knew that her techniques were not strong enough to hold the huge arrancar at bay for more than a few seconds? Both times when Ulquiorra had seemingly killed him, when he woke up, Orihime's face had been the first one that he saw, bending over him with concern.

Burying his face in his hands, suddenly Ichigo began to understand the reason behind Orihime's looks of trepidation and worry during those times. He had no idea whether she would ever wake up again and the thought of Orihime dying scared him more than anything had for quite some time.

**Author's Note:**

So, just a little explanation about what is going on here…I seem to be doing this a lot…hope you guys don't mind…Anyway, just so the breaks in between moving on to the next lifetime are clear, I am going to spend one chapter developing and explaining how things are getting along back in Karakura Town, so that the plot line back home stays interesting and (as I mentioned before) it will make moving from one lifetime to the other a little more defined rather than just knocking Orihime out and moving on. Hopefully that makes sense.

Enjoy!


	8. Waking up in the morning

The Common Thread: Part 8

"Pardon me, miss, but it's time to wake up."

The quiet voice was quickly followed by a sudden, seemingly blinding light that pervaded Orihime's closed eyes. Sitting up and quickly covering her eyes, Orihime felt completely disoriented.

"I'm sorry. Did I oversleep? Please, forgive me."

Uncovering her eyes to let them adjust, Orihime's confusion mounted as she realized that she was not in her room over Mr. Ura's Shop. She had no time to dwell on that fact as her attention was arrested when Orihime observed a girl greatly resembling Chizuru standing next to the now uncovered window.

"I'm very sorry, Miss Orihime. To be sure, I didn't mean to startle you. I should have waited until you said something before I just opened the blinds. I'm so sorry, miss."

It didn't take long for Orihime to figure out that this girl was nothing like the Chizuru that she knew, and yet, unlike Irodonio and the others, this girl seemed to know who she was. None of these things mattered at the moment, since Orihime's heart ached for the girl who now sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

Quickly jumping out of her bed, Orihime went to the girl asking in concern, "Are you all right? And you don't have to be sorry. I really don't like to oversleep, so thank you for waking me before I wasted the entire day away in bed."

The girl looked at Orihime with disbelief in her eyes, "You're not mad at me, Miss Orihime?"

Orihime smiled at the girl saying, "Of course not. Why would I be?"

The girl returned the smile as she said, "I'm still trying to get used to working here and I still get so many things mixed up and I mess up all the time. Just the other day, I almost burned a hole right through Miss Nell's best riding blouse and Miss Lily rightly scolded me for almost pouring the ashes back in the fire because I wasn't paying attention."

Orihime was about to respond, when there was suddenly a knock at the door and a woman's firm voice asking, "Orihime! Are you decent?"

Orihime had no idea how to respond to this question and so looked at the girl she knew as Chizuru for an explanation. The girl let out a small squeak of terror at the sound of the woman's knock and immediately raced to the right side of the window where a huge wooden wardrobe stood and quickly pulled down a white robe from within.

Rushing over to where Orihime stood dumbstruck, the girl frantically whispered, "Oh please, Miss Orihime, put this on quickly!"

Orihime reacted instinctively and allowed the girl to put the robe on before the girl turned and flew over to the closed door and opened it apprehensively. A soft gasp escaped Orihime as a woman whom she knew as Harribel swept regally into the room. Orihime recognized her from the blonde hair and the pale, almost white eyelashes, encircling the woman's eyes, but she was a completely different person from the Harribel Orihime remembered in that her hair was longer and swept up atop her proud head and her eyes were brought out by small traces of eyeliner or kohl around Harribel's eyes. The woman who looked like Harribel cut a stunning figure in a plain and modest, but flattering, teal satin dress.

Her eyes were firm, but not unkind, as she addressed Orihime saying, "I see Cazu only just woke you up, my dear. I trust you slept well after the ball last night?"

Orihime answered automatically in the affirmative even though she had no idea what this woman was talking about.

The woman nodded her head as if satisfied before she continued, "Your Uncle Sirik and I were very pleased with how you composed yourself last night, even under the circumstances. I know having to listen to Mr. Syael talk about his…" she paused for a moment before she said, "…less than pleasant experiments with vaccinations must have been rather trying to listen through all through dinner."

She shook her head slightly before continuing, "Your courtesy and kindness were not noticed by just your uncle and me. Mr. Karci only just sent over an invitation inviting you and your cousins to join him for a picnic. I think most of his regiment should be in attendance and several other people from the ball last night, so it should be an enjoyable outing."

Too lost to say anything else, Orihime answered softly, "That does sound quite enjoyable."

The woman nodded her head approvingly as she said, "The invitation came early this morning and the party is set to leave at ten, so you will have to hurry and get ready, my dear."

Orihime nodded in her head out of instinct rather than showing that she actually understood anything of what was going on. The woman gave one final nod and whisked out of the room, but stepped back into the room and directed a searching gaze at Orihime before she addressed Cazu.

Cazu jumped guiltily and squeaked, "Yes madam?"

"I think the green gown would suit Orihime best today. She has her mother's beauty, but her father's eyes and we want to make sure that both are shown off to their best advantage today."

Cazu dipped in a shallow curtsy as she replied, "Yes madam. The green dress."

"And how about adding the cameo her uncle and I gave her last Christmas? It would look stunning next to her fair skin, I think."

"Yes madam. As you wish."

With a final nod, she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. Once the door had shut, Orihime turned to Cazu with a lost expression. Cazu looked back at Orihime and gave her a timid smile as she made her way back over to the wardrobe to retrieve the suggested garment. After a few moments rummaging around inside, Cazu brought forth the most elegant gown that Orihime had ever seen. The main body of the dress was the color of dark emeralds while the front was split to reveal a lighter green, almost the color of willow leaves, peaked out.

Cazu said timidly, "I suppose Mrs. Esada wished you to wear something simpler since you are going outside on a picnic, but this will certainly make you look stunning nonetheless, if you don't mind my saying so miss."

Orihime almost choked out, "Simple? A simple dress?"

Cazu looked at Orihime with alarm and asked, "Are you all right, Miss Orihime? You're not feeling poorly are you?"

Orihime pulled herself together and gave Cazu a reassuring smile as she said, "Oh no, I'm perfectly fine. This is all just happening so fast and unexpectedly."

Cazu nodded knowingly as she moved forward to help Orihime get dressed (which Orihime thought would be best, since she didn't want to worry Cazu again and from what she could tell there was going to be a corset and lots of layers involved with this outfit) and said, "If you don't mind my saying so, Miss Orihime, from the way you looked last night, I have no doubt that you turned quite a few gentlemen's heads. You were probably the most beautiful person there."

Orihime blushed saying, "Oh, I doubt that. I'm sure there were others just as pretty as and probably even more so than I was."

Cazu shook her head solemnly saying, "I don't mean to be contrary, miss, but I think you have something that a lot of other girls don't have."

Orihime gave the girl a confused look, and Cazu blushed as she continued, "I've only been working here a short time, Miss Orihime, but even before I came here I had heard rumors about you and how kind you were to everyone. Mrs. Trady in the village says she will never forget when her son fell in the river and you jumped in to save him and carried him to the doctor yourself. Mr. and Mrs. Oviler said they would always be indebted to you for bringing their young children Christmas presents, I think it was two years ago this Christmas, when they were struggling just to make ends meet. I don't think there's a person alive who couldn't love and respect you, Miss Orihime."

Orihime was at a loss for words as she tried to process these unexpected praises and so stood in silence as Cazu finished dressing her and helping Orihime arrange her long hair into a kind of bun that was loose to allow some hair to frame her face. As Cazu helped Orihime, Orihime allowed her thoughts to drift and try to understand what was going on. Unlike in Heartland Falls, these people in this house seemed to know her and knew her quite well, it seemed. She was troubled for a time as she couldn't figure out why Irodonio and the others did not know her, while Cazu talked about things Orihime supposedly had done but that she herself could not remember doing.

'This must be part of the dream,' Orihime thought to herself, 'I guess I'm just going to have play along as best I can.'

When Cazu had put the finishing touch on Orihime's hair, she stood back, admiring her handiwork as she said, "You really are beautiful, Miss Orihime. You're like a…like a…" Cazu faltered.

Orihime looked at her kindly, "What?"

Cazu blurted, "Like a fairy, miss!"

Orihime looked surprised and Cazu blushed furiously as she started stammering, "I'm sorry, miss! I meant no disrespect! My mother was always telling me to think before I speak, but I just keep forgetting! Please forgive me!"

Orihime laughed kindly, "I'm not offended in the least, Cazu. In fact, I'm flattered."

Before Cazu could say anything, the sound of the bedroom door opening once again caused the girls to turn and face the newcomer. Orihime barely managed to stifle a gasp as she recognized this new girl as Loly, from Hueco Mundo. The girl's dark hair and eyes were the same, only this time they weren't directed at Orihime full of hatred and loathing, just slight annoyance.

"Well, it's about time you finished getting ready, cousin. The carriage is waiting by the door for us."

"Now, now Lily," said a new voice coming from the hallway, "No need to get so snippy already. You only just finished getting ready yourself."

A few moments later, a woman who strongly resembled the third Espada Nelliel (only her green hair was now a darker shade of blonde, similar to melted gold), glided into the room.

'These two must be Lily and Nell,' thought Orihime to herself, 'And they are apparently my cousins. Odd.'

Orihime's eyes widened slightly as a thought struck her. Harribel was the mother of Nell and Loly in this dream and it took all of Orihime's concentration not to let her face break into a smile.

Nell didn't seem to notice as she came up to Orihime saying, "My, don't you look fetching, cousin. If it's even possible, I'd say you're even more stunning than last night. I guess it must be the sun making you look as if you're glowing."

Orihime blushed as she said, "I suppose so. You're very lovely as well."

Lily cut in with a slightly irritated tone, "Yes, yes. Everyone looks fabulous and radiant. Can we go now, please?"

Nell rolled her eyes as she turned and said, "I doubt Mr. Karci would leave even if we were an hour late."

Lily responded, "I'm too excited about going on this picnic to test that theory."

Falling into step behind the two young women and climbing into the carriage after them, as she sat down, Orihime wondered what in the world she had gotten herself into.

**Author's Note:**

Ok, so…time for another list of characters. Added to this list are about three characters who I created myself just because. Also, this lifetime is based off of the picture with the wedding scene by nekosaiko and in case it is not really clear what time period this is, if you are familiar with Jane Austen and her work it is about that time frame which would be about middle 1800's or thereabouts. I have to say that personally, this was one of my favorite lifetimes to create since I adore Jane Austen's works, so I tried in my own clumsy writing way to add some of the elements which most females love and adore in her work.

Just a word of caution, there will be slight overtones of other couples besides Ichihime in this lifetime, but that will become more apparent later.

Without further ado, here is a list of my new characters and who they are supposed to be (this time I added last names as well and the reason for that will become more apparent later):

Iano Karci-Ichigo

Cazu-Chizuru

Mrs. Hanil Esada (I took Esada from the word 'Espada' since almost all the family were Espada in Bleach…and I don't know why I used the last names as their first names here…probably because they were more fun to play around with)-Harribel

Mr. Sirik Esada-Starkk

Nell Esada-Nelliel

Lily Esada-Loly

Umara Crandon-Ulquiorra Schiffer (I realize the last name is completely different…personally, I'm not sure what happened there…)

Garrow Jacks-Grimmjow Jeagerjaques

Harden, Hairen and Hatren Dash-these are characters of my own creation and they will pop up eventually

Mr. Syael- Szayelaporro

Mr. Yeny-Yammy

Tisha Tatlefront-another character of my own creation and she has a few relatives who make minor appearances, but I won't list them since they are only important in a few key areas and I really only like her, for reasons that will become apparent later…

I believe that is everyone, but again if I have missed anyone, let me know and I will help you out if you are confused on any point. Hope you enjoy this lifetime with me!


	9. The beginning of the picnic

The Common Thread: Part 9

She could hear him before she even exited the carriage, and it frightened her in a weird way. Ichigo was laughing. At least, Orihime thought it was Ichigo's voice, but since she had never heard him laugh before it was rather hard to tell for sure whether it was really him or not. She thanked the coachman for helping her out of the carriage as her eyes sought out the familiar head of bright orange hair and it didn't take her long to pick it out as she usually did amongst the other, often termed 'normal', heads of hair.

Standing next to Ichigo were two immensely familiar faces and it was all Orihime could do not to tremble with apprehension as she recognized Grimmjow and Ulquiorra, two more Espada who had held her captive in Hueco Mundo. After a moment, though, Orihime was struck with the thought that Loly and Harribel were no longer the same as they had been in Hueco Mundo, so it would stand to reason that the other two Arrancars would have slightly different personalities as well. Ulquiorra and Grimmjow looked much the same, the only differences being Ulquiorra's skin was not pure white with green marks running down his face and instead of his bright blue hair Grimmjow's head was crowned with a mop of tousled red-brown, similar to cherry wood, hair.

Orihime had no time to dwell on these thoughts for as soon as the man she knew as Ichigo spotted her, he laughed and said in a booming voice, "Well, the lovely ladies arrive at last! It was getting rather difficult to wait, but now I see that exerting patience when it comes to waiting on a woman can pay off!"

He stepped forward and gently, yet firmly, grasped Orihime by the hand and gave her a courteous bow and kiss on her hand as he said, "I don't know how this is possible, but if I had to give my opinion I would say that you are even lovelier now than you were last night."

As she returned his greeting in a pleasant manner, something bothered Orihime. She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something about this new Ichigo that caused her to feel uneasy. Mentally shaking herself, she forced the silly prickling at her intuition out of her thoughts for the time being.

As for this Ichigo's greeting, she couldn't help but be grateful that Irodonio was even more flamboyant in his pretty speeches than the man bending over her hand at the moment so that she had no difficulty keeping her composure. All though, she almost lost it for a moment when she suddenly realized that she had just received her first kiss from Ichigo. Granted, it wasn't like the kisses she had imagined for years, but it was a kiss nonetheless.

The new Grimmjow called, "We can finish the pleasantries when we get there, Iano! Let's get going already!"

Iano gave Orihime, Nell and Lily an apologetic look as he turned to address his companion, "All in good time, Garrow. These ladies only just arrived and it would be boorish of me as their host not to greet them first before we set out."

Garrow grunted, made his way over to his waiting horse and swung himself into the saddle without another decipherable word. The man who looked like Ulquiorra closed his eyes in strained patience as he waited for Iano to help Orihime and her newfound cousins into a waiting buggy before climbing onto his own horse.

"What's with the long face, Umara?" Iano asked the man who looked like Ulquiorra, "You look as if you're being forced to swallow a cup of liquid lard?"

Umara gave Iano an exasperated look as he replied in a bored tone, "If you have finished performing your duties as a gentleman," he paused for a moment in a meaningful way, "and as host of this party, then I suggest we get underway without delay. Besides, language of that sort really shouldn't be used in the presence of ladies, Mr. Karci."

Holding his hands up in mock surrender, Iano replied jovially, "All right, all right, Umara. No need to get all uptight."

Turning back to the buggy, Iano addressed the three women, "I hope you ladies don't mind me being your driver, but I thought this outing would be more fun with just the six of us."

Lily fluttered her eyes in a coy manner as she said, "Oh, that sounds perfectly agreeable, Mr. Karci. My sister, cousin and I place our wellbeing in your more than capable hands."

Orihime's eyes widened slightly as the ride progressed and the flirting continued, mostly between Iano and Lily, while Garrow and Nell contributed some to the conversation. Deciding that it would be wise to simply sit back and observe for a while so that she would have a better idea of how to act and react in this new environment, she discovered that while the menfolk addressed each other on a first name basis, when addressing each other the males and females always used surnames with prefixes such as 'Mr. Karci', 'Ms. Esada' and 'Mr. Jacks', all though, in Lily's case since she was the younger of the two sisters, she was called 'Ms. Lily'. Mr. Karci tried on multiple occasions to get Orihime to join in the conversation through one method or other, but when she only gave polite and simple answers, Lily would invariably began trying to regain Mr. Karci's attention.

Sighing inwardly, Orihime found her attention wandering as the conversation was about events that had happened in recent months that she had no recollection of and her gaze was drawn to the silent, yet not sullen, Umara, or Mr. Crandon. Whenever she managed to glimpse his face without making her observations obvious, she was struck by the expression on his face seeming to say that while his body was riding on a horse with the present company, his mind had travelled to considerably greater lengths. Mentally she compared Mr. Crandon to the Espada Ulquiorra and found that they seemed to be much the same in that sense of always being lost in thought. Mr. Crandon was considerably less vocal than Ulquiorra, but he did seem to be more approachable than Ulquiorra.

Inevitably, Orihime's thoughts turned to the time when Ulquiorra died high above Hueco Mundo. He had asked her many things over the course of her…acquaintance with him. At first, Ulquiorra's dealings with Orihime had left her upset and helpless, but in the little time that she had known him, those feelings had faded more rapidly than she would have thought possible under normal circumstances. In his final moments, the most important piece of information that he wished to ask Orihime was if he frightened her. At that point, when she searched her heart, she had surprised herself to find that even with all he had done to her and Ichigo, she simply wasn't afraid of him and couldn't hate him in any way.

"We're here!" were the two words that snapped Orihime out of her reminiscing.

Orihime couldn't suppress the smile that spread across her face as she saw the spot where the group was to be sharing a picnic lunch. A cluster of oak and maple trees provided a suitable place to spread out the blanket in the shade next to a clear river. Down the river a way, there was a stone bridge large enough for a full sized carriage to pass over, but no real road leading to it, so Orihime assumed that Mr. Karci and his group would not be bothered by regular traffic in this place.

Mr. Karci secured the reigns before he jumped down to help Orihime and the others out of the buggy. Mr. Jacks and Mr. Crandon dismounted their horses and tied them to a low hanging branch on one of the trees before settling feed bags over the horses' mouths. The two men then came over to help Mr. Karci unload the buggy of all necessary items pertaining to the picnic lunch.

"Stupid thing won't stay still," grumbled Mr. Jacks as he tried to straighten the blanket which lay in a wrinkled mess at his feet.

Mr. Crandon spoke in his bored tone, "That's because you need to pull one corner at a time to make it lay right."

Orihime said kindly, "Let me help you."

In no time, the blanket was laid out and the basket was in the process of being unloaded when Lily said, "Oh dear! I seem to have left my parasol in the buggy."

Mr. Jacks looked at the girl in confusion, "We're sitting in the shade, what in the world to you need a parasol for?"

Mr. Karci gave Mr. Jacks a reproachful look saying, "Garrow, go and fetch the lady her parasol."

Mr. Jacks became belligerent, "What? You can't make me go!"

Mr. Karci gave the man a dangerous look, "Oh really?"

Lily's voice sounded pleading, but for some reason her eyes glowed with delight as she said, "Oh please, gentlemen! Don't fight over me! I can go get it myself."

The next moment, the parasol in question was suddenly right in front of Lily's face. She gave a little squeal of surprise and turned to see Mr. Crandon holding the parasol in his hand while his face was looking off into the distance with a detached expression.

Taking the parasol in a rather reluctant manner, Lily said, "Why, thank you, Mr. Crandon. You are very kind."

Mr. Crandon merely gave her a nod of understanding before moving off to stand beside the flowing water. While his face maintained the same far off look, Orihime thought that his eyes seemed to be searching the moving liquid as if it somehow contained the secrets of the universe inside.

It wasn't much later that the lunch was laid out and the party sat down to enjoy the meal. Orihime was hard pressed not to squeal in delight at all the delectable choices spread out before her. There were dainty cucumber sandwiches and other varieties of the small finger food, an entire roast chicken that had been seasoned with fragrant rosemary and marinated in oil sprinkled with bits of garlic (not near enough to cause any damage when people turned to each other in conversation), a wide variety of fruits and several kinds of sweetbreads. A carefully covered and packaged container was brought forth and the most delicious lemonade that Orihime had ever tasted was poured into her glass from inside.

Once again, Orihime was content to let the conversation flow around her as she enjoyed the food and tried to casually observe how the others ate since the last thing she wanted was to horrify her cousins and companions with her unwitting bad manners.

"So, Mr. Karci," said Lily as she plucked a cucumber sandwich from its place, "I've heard that you are soon to be promoted in your regiment."

Mr. Karci smiled in a somewhat humble manner, "Well, Ms. Lily, I don't know who could have possibly told you that since I myself have heard of no such thing."

"Oh, but they must promote you, Mr. Karci. Someone as hard working and dedicated as you to the regiment must be acknowledged and rewarded for his service."

Mr. Jacks laughed and pounded Mr. Karci on the back, "You hear that, Iano?"

Turning to Lily, Mr. Jacks said, "It also doesn't hurt his situation any that his father happens to be an old friend of our commander."

Lily turned wide eyes to Mr. Karci, "Is that so?"

Mr. Karci cut himself a generous portion of chicken as he answered, "My father was good friends with Captain Juro back in the day. In fact, at least once a year, they get together to reminisce with their other comrade, Mr. Shani."

Nell decided that she was bored with the topic and smoothly asked, "Is that the same Mr. Shani who made his fortune developing that popular children's game…what was it again?"

Mr. Karci smiled, "Ladder Shoot. Yes, that's the one."

"How very interesting," fawned Lily, "Your family has so many influential friends and connections. It's a wonder you decided to purchase a house all the way out here in Cranbury when you must be used to life in the big cities."

"I was interested in a change of pace. My sister, Karen, was as well, so she comes and visits me often."

Nell asked, "You have another sister, don't you Mr. Karci?"

Mr. Karci nodded, "Yes, she's Karen's twin and the two couldn't be more different from one another. Yanu is much more of a social butterfly, while Karen would rather spend her time sitting indoors, or outside when the weather is good, and reading every book she can get her hands on."

Orihime smiled as she thought, 'Some things never change.'

Her smile did not go unnoticed by Mr. Karci, who leaned in Orihime's direction asking, "Is that a smile I see at last?"

Looking at him, Orihime replied, "Yes. I didn't know such a thing would be so vastly important to you, Mr. Karci."

Mr. Karci laid a hand over his heart as he replied, "You cut me to the quick. Your smiles are most definitely wondrous at any time, Ms. Inoue, but I'm sure that I'm not the only one who has noticed that they have yet to make much of an appearance at this little party. The example you bestowed upon us just now was quite a specimen, to be sure."

Orihime returned, "I smile when I find something amusing or when I am around someone with whom I am enjoying spending time with."

Mr. Karci looked wounded, "So is my little party boring you, Ms. Inoue?"

Lily broke in brightly, "Oh, of course not Mr. Karci! Orihime could never find an event that you kindly invited us to boring!"

She squeezed Orihime's hand meaningfully as she asked, "Right, cousin?"

Orihime ignored Lily's stare as she addressed Mr. Karci, "I am very grateful that you invited us to come out with you and your friends and the lunch is quite lovely. My thoughts were simply otherwise occupied until just now."

Mr. Jacks broke in, "Would someone pass the lemonade?"

Orihime reached out for the man's cup as she said, "If you'll hand me your cup, I'll refill it for you."

Mr. Jacks relinquished his cup freely and barely paused long enough to thank Orihime when she passed it back before he gulped down half the glass.


	10. And how it finally turned out

The Common Thread: Part 10

After the lunch was finished, the food was replaced in the basket and the mostly merry bunch tried to think of what to do next.

"What else is there to do out here, Iano?" grumbled Mr. Jacks, "Wouldn't it have been better to eat in town where there was more to do?"

Mr. Karci looked irritated as he responded, "Next time, you can plan an outing however you want, but in the meantime would you mind not complaining and spoiling our time now?"

Before Mr. Jacks could retort, Orihime blurted out the first thing that came to her mind, "Why don't we play a game like hide and seek?"

After a moment of silence, Lily reproached Orihime in an overly sweet tone, "Oh, my dear cousin. I'm sure these refined gentlemen would rather not waste their time playing such childish games."

Nell shook her head, "No, I think that sounds like a grand idea. It's not like anyone else has any better ideas."

Lily gave her sister a horrified look as she said, "But sister, think of the dirt that could get on our dresses!"

Nell rolled her eyes, "Personally, I'd rather deal with a little dirt than sit around here bored to death, but you are welcome to do whatever you want, Lily."

Mr. Jacks sprang to his feet, "I guess that sounds like fun, but maybe we could make it a little more interesting. Maybe the last person to be found has to race back to the blanket in order to be safe."

Mr. Karci shook his head reproachfully at Mr. Jacks as he said, "Don't forget that there are ladies present, Garrow. However, I do like your idea of somehow penalizing the last person to be found. What shall it be?"

Mr. Crandon spoke in a bored tone, "Why don't you have the last person give the seeker a kiss?"

Orihime giggled nervously as she said, "Or we can just not play with penalties at all."

Mr. Karci wagged his finger first at Orihime then at Umara saying, "No, with all due respect I think Umara's on to something. The last person to be found has to kiss the seeker. And to make sure that someone doesn't hide in a half-hearted manner just to make sure that they are found first, if you seem like you're not even trying to find a good hiding spot then you will have to tell everyone a secret about yourself. Fair enough?"

Lily's eyes suddenly sparkled with interest, "How will we decide who is 'it' first?"

"Count me out," said Mr. Crandon rising and starting to head back towards the river.

His progress was halted when Mr. Karci stood and wrapped his arm around Mr. Crandon's shoulders saying, "Oh no you don't, Umara! You're the one who contributed the idea for the penalty!"

Mr. Crandon gave Mr. Karci a withering look saying, "Exactly. I already contributed to this game and I refuse to play along anymore."

Orihime spoke up, "You shouldn't have to be forced to play with us, Mr. Crandon. However, I don't think it will be as much fun without you."

Mr. Karci clapped Mr. Crandon on the back saying, "There! You hear that, Umara! You can't go and disappoint this lady now, can you?"

When Orihime had spoken, Mr. Crandon had returned her gaze inquisitively and remained silent for a few moments before he answered, "Very well."

It was decided that Nell would be the first seeker and everyone else quickly set out to find their hiding spots. Orihime giggled to herself as she thought that her aunt had unwittingly provided her with a dress that could almost blend right in with her surroundings as a sort of camouflage. Heading into the small forest area, Orihime made sure that she could still clearly see the picnic area before she sat down with her back to a tree and some bushes in front of her to somewhat hide her from plain sight. After about a minute, Nell called that she was coming to find them and less than a minute later, Orihime heard Nell discover Lily. In the next few minutes, Mr. Crandon and then Orihime herself were discovered by Nell and after a bit more searching, Mr. Karci's hiding place was discovered. It took a while longer than expected to find Mr. Jacks, but they did eventually up in a tree. Jumping down in front of Nell, he gave her a roguish grin as he leaned in for his kiss. Nell gave him a quick peck on his lips, to which Mr. Jacks looked slightly disappointed, but then shrugged his shoulders and turned around to begin his turn as the seeker. It took everyone a moment to realize that they were supposed to hide and the game went on like this for a while longer and Orihime was grateful that at the end of each round she was not the last one found. Of course as soon as she felt safe in that thought, a round came when she was the last one found.

"There you are," came Mr. Karci's voice just to her left from around the tree she was hiding behind.

Orihime blushed furiously as she noticed the rest of the party standing behind him, so thinking quickly, she stood on tiptoe and kissed Mr. Karci's cheek. For a moment, Mr. Karci did not process what had just happened until Orihime started walking away from him.

"Wait a minute!"

Orihime turned towards him with a questioning look as he asked, "That was my kiss?"

Something in his tone caused Orihime to pause as she said, "Yes, it was. I do not much think that it is necessary for me to give away my first real kiss away lightly in a silly game like this. Also, no one said that a kiss on the cheek would not count, so therefore, you have received the payment of my penalty for this game."

Mr. Jacks laughed and slapped Mr. Karci on the back saying, "She's got you there, Iano! Who would have thought that there was a girl on this earth who would rather not kiss you?"

If Mr. Jacks had simply kept his comments to himself, things might have turned out differently, but as it was, while Mr. Jacks was talking, Mr. Karci's face turned red as he retorted, "No one asked for your opinion, Garrow!"

Turning to Orihime, he said, "Now, the agreement of the game was that the last person found would give the seeker a kiss. I have yet to receive what is owed to me."

Orihime's eyes widened as she tried to understand this man standing before her. He looked exactly like Ichigo, and like Irodonio for that matter, yet his manners and the way that he acted and reacted to situations was so unlike anything Ichigo would do or say that she almost didn't know what to say. Looking into those same brown eyes that she had known for so long, she suddenly realized what is was that had bothered her earlier. The eyes were the same color, size and shape that she remembered, but the window's into this man's soul were much cloudier than Ichigo's or even Irodonio's were. Mr. Karci's eyes were filled with arrogance, selfishness and something akin to greed. Not at all like Ichigo's eyes which spoke of his determination, selflessness and kindness, in his own way. Ichigo could be gruff and somewhat insensitive at times, but his heart was good and honest, unlike the man standing before her now. And for the first time in her life, she found herself becoming annoyed at Ichigo, or at least, the Mr. Karci version of him.

"I explained to you just now that I don't see any reason to believe that I did not fulfill the requirement of this game," she added special emphasis on the word before she continued, "I have no intention of giving away something as precious as my first kiss to a man who clearly has no respect for me as a person for the sake of a game. You may say that I am breaking the rules, but I say that I have fulfilled my duty and that if you press me any farther that you will be taking advantage of me and that is not something that my uncle will take well, I think."

Turning on her heel, Orihime decided that she really didn't care to stay and see how everyone would react, so she headed in the direction of the horses and river. As she came into the clearing, she noticed three rather dirty looking children rummaging through the picnic basket and the buggy.

"Excuse me," she gently called to them as she approached and the children looked up at her in surprise before they turned and began running away.

Before she had a chance to say anything else, Mr. Karci and Mr. Jacks suddenly raced around her and began chasing the children as they let out pitiful cries of terror. Feeling her blood begin to rise, Orihime lifted her skirts and began to run after the men.

"Gotcha!" said Mr. Jacks as he caught the smallest of the children around the waist and lifted him off the ground. The child let out a yell and the biggest boy turned and started pelting towards his captured comrade.

"Oh no you don't!" cried Mr. Karci as he pinned the running boy to the ground, "You're going to come with us to the authorities where they know how to deal with little thieves like you!"

The boy underneath Mr. Karci stopped struggling as he said, "This was all my idea! I'm to blame, so just take me and let my brothers go! They're too young to know any better!"

Mr. Karci hauled the boy to his feet and twisted the boy's arms behind his back as he responded, "Oh, you will take responsibility all right and your brothers will get off with a lighter sentence, but that doesn't mean tha-"

Mr. Karci's speech was cut off as Orihime was finally able to catch up with them and she landed a firm slap across Mr. Karci's face. For a moment, Mr. Karci and the boy didn't move and then as one turned and looked at her with surprise. Orihime's face was flushed from exertion of trying to run in her rather cumbersome dress and also from her agitation, which only made her flashing eyes all the more captivating.

Yanking Mr. Karci's arms away from the boy and pulling him beside her, Orihime fired at Mr. Karci, "You are a brute! What kind of man tackles a boy trying to save his little brother and then all but twists his arm off afterwards? What did they do to you?"

Mr. Karci pointed back in the direction of the trees as he said, "They were stealing from us!"

Orihime leaned forward slightly as she returned, "Use your eyes, or do you need glasses? These boys are skinny enough to blow away if more than a slight breeze comes by! They were probably starving and our unattended lunch was right there! Yes, it was wrong of them not to ask us politely, but then again, we were all in the woods playing a game, so unless these boys were psychic, how were they supposed to know where we were in order to come and ask?"

Mr. Karci looked stunned for a moment before he said, "They are common vagabonds and thieves. They don't deserve any mercy."

"And what have they taken from you, Mr. Karci?"

Mr. Karci pointed adamantly in the direction of the horses and basket again as he said, "They were stealing my food and going through my belongings to find valuables to steal!"

Orihime replied calmly, "I asked you what did they take, not what they were looking through."

Mr. Karci could only manage, "What?"

Orihime gestured to the boys saying, "Look at their hands and show me what they have actually taken from you. True, when we walked up, they were going through the picnic basket and the buggy, but show me what they have in their possession right now that actually belongs to you or anyone else here."

Looking at the boys, Mr. Karci saw that the boys had not taken anything, but still he tried, "They had every intention-"

Orihime held up her finger, "Intention is not the same as committing. Show me evidence that these boys have actually taken something that belongs to you or anyone else and I will help you bring them to the proper authorities."

Mr. Karci spluttered and looked at Mr. Jacks and Mr. Crandon for support, neither of whom could offer him any help in this matter.

Orihime nodded her head in Mr. Jacks' direction as she said, "You have no right to detain that boy, Mr. Jacks. Put him down please. Gently."

Turning to the boy standing next to her and taking his hand, Orihime walked over to where the other two boys were saying, "Come with me."

With that, Orihime turned in the direction of the bridge with the three boys following her, like ducklings following their mother until Mr. Karci finally called after them saying, "Where do you think you're going? You can't give them anything of mine and I refuse to take you anywhere as long as you insist on protecting those dirty urchins!"

Turning slowly, Orihime responded, "I have no intention of remaining in your company any longer, Mr. Karci. I will no longer impose upon your hospitality, if it can even be termed that in your case, and will be satisfied to walk with these fine and mannerly boys, street urchins though they be, and have them escort me back home. While I thank you for inviting me on this outing, I must be honest and tell you that should you wish to host another outing, you might as well find someone else to invite as I will be declining all your future invitations. You may invite my cousins as they have immensely enjoyed your company as well as that of your comrades. I, on the other hand, cannot think of anyone's company that I desire less at this point than yours. Good day, Mr. Karci."

And with that, Orihime grasped the hands of the two boys nearest her, whirled around on her heel and began once again to walk away from the stunned party of merry-makers.

Once she and the three boys were out of sight, Orihime looked behind her to make sure they weren't being followed before she said, "My goodness!"

Finally finding the courage to speak, the oldest boy said, "I hope you'll forgive us, miss, for ruining your party. You were right that we were going to ask before we took anything."

Orihime smiled down at the boy, who looked to be about twelve or thirteen years old, saying, "Next time, it would probably be better to wait a good distance away until someone shows up so that it doesn't even appear that you're stealing. And I should actually be thanking you all for saving me from that party, if it could even be called that. Mr. Karci was much rougher than he should have been with you because I made him upset just before we came back, so I should really be the one apologizing."

The youngest boy, who was about seven years old, suddenly interjected with, "Excuse me, miss?"

Orihime looked at him and smiled, "Yes?"

"Are you an angel?"

Orihime was too shocked to respond at first and his elder brother said frantically, "He means no disrespect, miss! Mom is always telling him that he needs to think before he says something, but he never listens."

Feeling that she had already lived through once before, just that morning in fact, Orihime put a hand over her mouth and began laughing at the absurdity of the situation. The boys looked at each other in confusion and waited until Orihime's tinkling laugh subsided before they turned their concerned gazes at her.

Orihime spoke before they had a chance to ask, "I'm quite all right, boys. That's just the second time today that someone has caught me off guard in such a way. Just this morning, someone compared me to a fairy and now someone is telling me that I am an angel. I can't think of any other day where I have been quite so flattered and honored."

A familiar voice spoke from behind them, "From the way you acted back there, Ms. Inoue, I wouldn't have guessed that you were one to care much for such things."

Orihime jumped at gave a cry of surprise as she turned to meet Mr. Crandon's gaze, saying, "What do you want?"

Mr. Crandon looked slightly disheartened as he replied, "I am here to help escort you home, Ms. Inoue."

Orihime's chin raised in defiance as she replied, "Thank you for the offer, but I believe that I already made it clear that I don't desire such company as you can offer."

Mr. Crandon's eyebrows rose slightly as he asked, "And what makes you think that I am the same as Mr. Karci and Mr. Jacks? I didn't help them when they snatched the boys."

"True, but you didn't stop them either."

Mr. Crandon's eyes shone with something akin to interest as he said, "So I am guilty not only because I didn't help my comrades, but also because I didn't defend the boys. Guilty by association, in other words, am I right?"

"If you wish to think of it in such a manner, so be it. I will not attempt to change your mind."

Mr. Crandon's eyes were difficult to read as he replied, "On the contrary, I don't think I've ever found a woman's opinion of me so…thought-provoking. While my fortune and status are not nearly as impressive as Mr. Karci's and my mannerisms aren't as well received as Mr. Jack's, it would be dishonest of me to pretend that I have not received a fair amount of attention either because females think that I am more attainable than Mr. Karci or that my manners are more aloof and therefore alluring than Mr. Jack's and that seems to appeal to a percentage of the female population. Whatever the case may be, I can honestly say that I have never come across a young woman who has intrigued me as much as you do."

Orihime was not sure how to reply to this statement and so simply said, "My only intent has always been to speak my mind, especially when it came to dealing with Mr. Karci. You might not believe this, but I don't think I've ever been so angry in all my life and I'm sure that Mr. Karci and Mr. Jacks, not to mention my cousins, will never desire my company again."

Mr. Crandon's mouth turned up slightly into a wry smile, "Whether they desire your company or not, they deserved every bit of your wrath, in my opinion. It's about time that someone put them in their place."

Orihime looked at him inquiringly as she asked, "I don't mean to be rude, but why, if you have noticed this behavior in them before, have you never bothered to confront them about it before? Aren't they your friends?"

Mr. Crandon looked thoughtful for a moment before he replied slowly, "I suppose they are the only people in my sphere of acquaintances of whom I could refer to as friends. And as you just said, I never wanted to be bothered with trying to confront them when they are fairly set in their own ways. Up until today, besides them acting like complete morons in front of ladies, they have never done anything remotely as cruel or boorish as what they did to these boys."

Orihime groaned, "So it really was my fault that Mr. Karci was so upset. If I'd only-"

Mr. Crandon interrupted Orihime by reaching down and grasping her hand firmly, "No, don't say such things. You were within your rights to refuse Mr. Karci's completely unreasonable request. If he can't see how low he has fallen from all the principals that his parents have taught him soon, then there will be no hope for him."

Orihime tried to hide her blush as she asked, "You speak as if you've known him for quite a while."

Mr. Crandon rolled his eyes as he replied, "Yes. The three of us met in school when we were teenagers. They used to be much different back then, even though they have always had a bent towards causing mischief. I usually tagged along just to make sure that they never did anything stupid and endanger their lives or anyone else's."

"What happened?"

"I'm not really sure, but the changes have only started to happen in the past two years or so. They've gradually become more and more self-centered and arrogant. As I said, I usually have let them be since they really only make fools of themselves. If an incident ever happens like this again, though, there will probably a few black eyes and several missing teeth after I'm through with them."

Mr. Crandon made a slight bow as he said, "Well, anyway, I came because even though I knew that you were going to be escorted by three capable young men, I thought that for the sake of your aunt and uncle that it would be best for me to come along as well to help smooth things over."

Not knowing how else to respond, Orihime simply nodded before she asked, the boys, "So where do you boys live? I assume you are all brothers."

The oldest boy spoke up, "Yes. I'm Harden, this is Hairen and that's Hatren."

Orihime smiled, "What very nice names."

She noticed Mr. Crandon looking as though he wanted to make a comment, and she gave him a warning look before returning her attention to the boys. As they headed off together, Orihime couldn't help but ponder over just how much she had to readjust her perspective on people whom she thought she had known so well.

**Author's Note:**

Don't start loading your shotguns yet! Remember, I said I was going to incorporate elements from some of Jane Austen's work and also that I would be playing around with the character of Ichigo in these lifetimes, so in this one he is more of a jerk than he usually is…doesn't mean he's going to stay that way necessarily, so just hang in there!


	11. A few days later

The Common Thread: Part 11

"Excuse me, Ms. Inoue, but your uncle has requested you to come down to his study, if you please."

Orihime looked up from the book she had been reading and smiled, "Cazu, how many times do I have to ask you to just call me Orihime?"

Cazu blushed and ducked her head saying, "Oh, miss, I couldn't. I just couldn't. What if Mrs. Esada or anyone else heard?"

Orihime slowly stood from her window seat where she had been nestled and said, "I'm sorry, Cazu. I keep forgetting that your livelihood depends on how you act."

Before Cazu could say any more, Orihime laid a hand on the girl's shoulder saying, "Thank you for bringing me the message. I'll head down there directly."

"Very good, miss. Thank you, Ms. Inoue."

Giving the girl a kind pat on the shoulder, Orihime walked out of her room and headed for her Uncle Sirik's study on the first floor. As she went, Orihime wondered what she could possibly be wanted for at this point. She had thought that the entire picnic incident had been put behind them five days ago after she had come home escorted my Mr. Crandon. Despite the fact that Mr. Crandon had assured her Aunt Hanil that Orihime had been completely correct to talk to Mr. Karci in the manner that she had, when he had left Orihime had been thoroughly interrogated and scolded for not acting in a more dignified manner. Uncle Sirik had eventually told Aunt Hanil to let the matter drop since he had received correspondence from both Mr. Karci and Mr. Jacks apologizing for their behavior. Orihime had been so surprised that she could barely think of what to say in her response letters that her aunt told Orihime she had to write.

That had all been five days ago, and she hadn't heard anything else since then. However, Orihime had gone over in her mind what had transpired as well as what Mr. Crandon had revealed to her about Mr. Jacks and Mr. Karci and she had to admit that everything did seem to add up. The characteristics that she had read in Mr. Karci's eyes still disturbed her, however, and she wondered what had happened to make him so disagreeable. To be perfectly honest, now that she thought back on the whole incident, she had no idea how she had ever come up with the courage to say such things to a man who looked, even if he didn't act like, exactly the same as the man she had fallen in love with several years ago.

Orihime paused on one of the stairs as a thought struck her. Ichigo and Mr. Karci were nothing like each other at this point, but could it be that buried somewhere deep inside Mr. Karci were the same qualities that she had fallen in love with in Ichigo? Turning her thoughts to Mr. Crandon as compared to Ulquiorra and Mr. Jacks in comparison to Grimmjow, she had to admit that in some ways they were similar, but in this world, the circumstances in which they had grown up had effected their personalities in slight ways. The personality traits were similar in each person, but they weren't exactly the same since no two people can be exactly the same. Shaking her head, Orihime told herself to move as her uncle was still waiting for her.

As she arrived in front of the study door, Orihime only just managed to remember that she was supposed to be a proper lady and walked quietly inside the room inquiring, "You asked me to come, Uncle Sirik?"

A man who looked like the number one Espada, Stark, looked up from some paperwork and said, "Ah, the fairy princess manages to check her pace at the door and glides in as a young woman."

Orihime blushed slightly as she lowered her eyes, "I started daydreaming on the stairs and I panicked when I realized that you were still waiting for me."

Gesturing to a chair in front of his desk, Sirik smiled, "Such a terrible waste of time, to daydream. It leaves absolutely no time for the really important things in life such as pulling dusty volumes off of selves to learn facts on topics that are even dustier than the books themselves."

Orihime smiled in return saying, "That does sound much more interesting than daydreaming."

Sirik nodded before he cleared his throat and began, "I have asked you to come here on a matter of great importance to you. There is an event coming up in the near future that I wish to have your opinion on before I send out the invitations."

Orihime looked at him intently as Sirik paused for a moment before continuing, "Your aunt and I have been discussing plans to hold a garden party in the next week or so."

Orihime's eyes lit up with understanding as Sirik continued, "Obviously, as we are holding a garden party and most of the guests would be our neighbors, it only stands to reason that we invite Mr. Karci, Mr. Jacks and Mr. Crandon as their regiment is still in town and I am good friends with each of their families. There are, however, two courses of action that we can take here."

Sirik leaned back slightly in his chair as he continued, "First of all, we could hold a party strictly for ladies and have an excuse not to invite any gentlemen at all. I will warn you that your aunt would probably find this one the most disagreeable since she was hoping to introduce Nell and Lily to a host of potential husbands at the garden party and have a chance to show them off to their best advantage here in our home. The second course of action would be to hold the party here, but find some excuse for you to be absent from the party so that you will not have to confront the three gentlemen if that is not your wish."

Orihime looked thoughtful before she said, "Those are both very considerate options, uncle, but I do believe that you have missed one."

Sirik nodded his head in understanding, "I see. I did not want to press that option upon you, my dear, since it is your choice whether to deal with these men again. Beyond your communication with them earlier this week, you have yet to make contact with them again and I did not want to make you uncomfortable or make you feel pressured into a decision."

Orihime smiled, "You are very considerate, Uncle Sirik, thank you. I believe that meeting the men again, but this time within the confines of your house would be the best way for me to interact with them at this point. Thank you for your thoughtfulness."

Sirik stood up smiling, "Let's not keep your aunt waiting any longer. She's been pacing around like a caged cat ever since I told her that I would not go forward with our plans until I had consulted you first."

Orihime was about to thank him again and apologize for being troublesome, when he raised his hand saying, "Don't worry about anything. All blame will lie with me. I will not have anyone in my charge uncomfortable under any circumstances when it is within my power to remedy the situation. Besides, I haven't forgotten my promise to your brother about treating you as one of my own daughters in his absence."

Orihime forced her face to remain neutral as she processed this new information. It was also fortunate that a servant chose at that time to bring news to Mr. Esada that his own presence was requested in the parlor. Excusing himself, Mr. Esada quitted the room and left Orihime to her own thoughts.

Apparently in this dream, her brother had died, but Sora had asked their Uncle Sirik and his family to take care of Orihime in Sora's absence. Taking a deep breath, Orihime made a mental note to ask her uncle after the party where Sora's grave was located so that she might go and visit it soon.


	12. The house party

The Common Thread: Part 12

"To be sure, I had no idea that my little theory could have worked out so brilliantly. This is a breakthrough for medicine, Ms. Inoue, an absolute breakthrough."

"Oh, would you quit babbling on so, Syael? You're giving me a headache."

"Pardon me, Yeny, but I believe that I was carrying on a conversation with Ms. Inoue and not with you. You are welcome to depart at any time."

"She's just too polite to say what's really on her mind, aren't you girl?"

"Ms. Inoue is no girl! She is a sophisticated flower of a young woman!"

"Flower, schmower."

"Do not insult Ms. Inoue!"

Orihime watched the exchange between the two men resembling Yammy (while he did still tower over most of the crowd, he probably only reached almost seven feet rather than nearly ten) and Szayelaporro with growing trepidation. How could she possibly have agreed to come to this party? What exactly had she expected? At this point, she had no idea how to respond to either question but she knew that if she didn't make herself scarce soon that she would likely develop a killer headache from watching so much discord over something so trivial.

Steeling herself, Orihime placed a calming hand on both men as she said, "Please, gentlemen, don't argue at my aunt's party, especially over something that I took no offense at."

Mr. Syael looked as if he were about to retort when Orihime strategically changed the subject, "I see they have refilled the punch bowl. It looks immensely refreshing."

At that simple remark, Mr. Syael jumped into action, "Let me go and fetch you a glass, Ms. Inoue. Shame on me for not noticing sooner that you must be positively parched."

Orihime nodded her head gratefully as Mr. Syael went to retrieve said beverage.

Turning her attention to Yeny, Orihime said, "Your plate looks a little empty, Mr. Yeny. I noticed that they also just brought out some more of those sandwiches that you seemed to enjoy so much."

In the blink of an eye, Orihime was left to herself for a few moments. Letting out a long sigh and looking around her, she noticed a bench off to the side which offered a little more privacy but where she was sure Mr. Syael would be able to find her once he had acquired the punch. Once she was sitting, she closed her eyes thinking about how much work it was to entertain guests at an event that was labeled as being leisurely. The work was probably increased due to the fact that Orihime was trying to remember or pretend to remember events and conversations that she seemed to have experienced with all these different people. No one was unkind to her in any way, but Orihime found herself wishing to be anywhere else but at this party right now.

Her contemplations were interrupted by a familiar voice, "Goodness. Can it be that even someone as spirited as you, Ms. Inoue, can feel exhaustion at such a gathering?"

Keeping her eyes closed, Orihime answered, "I am a human, same as anyone else here, Mr. Karci, and so am quite as susceptible as anyone else for needing a moment to compose oneself."

Mr. Karci leaned against the back of the bench saying, "From the way you swooped in and carried those boys away the other day, I would have thought you were more of an avenging angel than a human. You certainly look as if you could be an angel."

"I do not claim to be an angel; I have too many faults to prevent me from being one. However, if it is within my power to help or protect another person, then I will not hesitate to do so."

Before Mr. Karci could reply, Mr. Syael returned triumphantly saying, "Your punch, Ms. Inoue."

Orihime gave him a polite smile and accepted the refreshing drink saying, "Thank you, Mr. Syael, for your kindness."

Mr. Syael did not have time to say a word before Mr. Karci commented, "I see, Ms. Inoue. So, in order for you to look at a man favorably is for him to pay you small compliments and acts of kindness?"

Orihime did not turn to look at him as she replied, "Of course I would look at any person, male or female, favorably if they paid me acts of kindness. However, in order for me to respect someone, that person must also show kindness and compassion to everyone they come across, whether of the same social standing or not since respect must be earned, not demanded. Have you not heard of the 'Golden Rule'?"

"Of course I have. Ever since I was a little boy."

"Then you should learn to adhere to it and actually put it into practice."

Before Mr. Karci could utter a single word, Orihime stood, turned and faced him with a bright smile saying, "I apologize, Mr. Karci, for bringing up the past. You sent me a letter of apology and I assume you did the same for the boys whom I had escort me home the other day and it is unkind of me to act as if I hold it against you today. It is also not very hospitable of me to treat you in such a manner when you are a guest of my aunt and uncle. Please forgive my rude behavior."

Mr. Syael looked positively bewildered and so turned to Mr. Karci asking, "What did you do, Iano?"

Mr. Karci had the presence of mind to look slightly abashed but was not given an opportunity to respond when Mr. Crandon and Mr. Jacks joined their little circle.

Mr. Jacks threw an arm around Mr. Karci's shoulder saying, "Well, well Iano, you certainly have turned into a man who enjoys seeking out punishment. I never would have imagined that you would take a chastising from anyone and here yet you are, being put in your place by the same woman in less than a week's time. This is absolutely priceless!"

As usual, Mr. Jack's comments did nothing to help the situation, but before Mr. Karci could make an explosive comment, Orihime quickly stepped in saying, "You are right, Mr. Jacks, I really shouldn't be scolding guests like a fishwife, especially when I have already received correspondence from you both asking me for forgiveness. So please, pardon me. And excuse me since I should probably go and greet some of the other guests gathered here."

With that, Orihime gave a curtsey and swiftly glided away from the astonished male group. After walking a safe distance away, Orihime suddenly realized that she had no idea where to start. Feeling then men's eyes watching her intently from behind, Orihime squared her shoulders and looked around for she had no idea what until her eyes rested on a girl, not much younger than herself, looking as if she wanted to be anywhere but where she was at the moment. Orihime's intuition and naturally kind heart went out to the girl and so Orihime began making her way over to where the girl was standing.

When she was standing in front of her, Orihime said in greeting, "Hello. How are you today?"

The girl was petite and almost unnaturally skinny even with the several layers of required clothing that had to go underneath her dress. Her hair was a dark chocolate color and was swept back into a simple twist at the base of her neck out of which a few strands of hair had managed to escape and hung dangling in front of her face. The girl's eyes were the most striking feature about her in that they seemed to take up almost half of her face. They were gray-green in color and seemed to exude a feeling of seclusion and complete emptiness. Orihime had never seen such pitiful eyes.

After waiting a moment for the girl to respond, Orihime said, "Please pardon me if we have met before, but I would like to introduce myself just in case we have not. My name is Orihime Inoue. What's your name?"

This time the girl managed to look into Orihime's eyes briefly before returning her gaze to the tree she was standing beside.

Not to be discouraged, Orihime continued kindly, "I hope you'll excuse me for forcing my presence upon you like this, but I just felt I had to get away from the company of certain people for a while. Do you mind if I join you over here for a time?"

This time, the girl's head moved almost imperceptibly in a sign suggesting that she wouldn't mind Orihime's company, to which Orihime said brightly, "Thank you so much. You really are a life-saver."

Again the girl looked at Orihime for the tiniest space of time before Orihime went on, "I do hope you are enjoying your time here at my aunt and uncle's party. Personally, when they were making all the preparations, I thought they were preparing to entertain royalty, but after seeing all the guests here, I would not be very surprised to discover some here are actually royalty with the way they carry on."

The tiniest hint of life entered the girl's eyes at this comment as Orihime said, "There I go again making criticisms about people that I barely know. I have no idea what has happened to me in the past few days. If my friends could see me as I am now, I would hate to hear what they have to say about me."

Orihime's face took on a reminiscing expression as she said, "It feels like an eternity since I last saw everyone."

"Since you last saw whom?"

Orihime jumped and almost spilled the last remnants of her punch all down the front of her dress as she whirled around to see Nell standing right behind her.

Nell grinned when she saw Orihime's reaction saying, "I didn't know you enjoyed hearing the sound of your own voice this much."

Orihime's face glowed as she stammered, "I wasn't talking to myself. I tried to get her to talk with me since she seemed all alone and uncomfortable, but then I figured that it would be unkind to force her to talk and so I just decided to carry on a conversation on my own until she felt like talking with me."

Nell shook her head, "If you ever get Tisha to talk with you, it will be a miracle."

"What do you mean?"

Nell patted Tisha's shoulder kindly as she replied, "No one's been able to coax Tisha into talking for the past four years. No one is sure why she stopped talking and we can't necessarily force her to, so most of the time people just ignore her."

Orihime didn't know how to respond to this revelation. With this knowledge, Orihime's heart ached all the more for Tisha, who remained secluded in her lonely silence. Thinking for a moment, Orihime realized that someone seemed to care about appearances enough to bring Tisha with them, but cared so little for her that they would prefer to seek out the company of others for their own pleasure rather than taking the time to make sure that Tisha was enjoying herself as well.

Her musings were interrupted when Mr. Karci suddenly appeared next to Orihime saying, "Why hello there, Tisha? My but you look remarkably pretty today. That dark pink is simply stunning next to your hair."

Orihime's shocked glance moved from Mr. Karci's charming smile to Tisha's face in time to see the slightest amount of color flow into the girl's cheeks.

Mr. Karci turned his attention to Nell saying, "Ms. Esada, you look exquisite as well. Is that the latest from Mrs. Bradbury's collection?"

Nell was too used to dealing with men to be affected by Mr. Karci's flattery and so said simply, "You have a much practiced eye, Mr. Karci."

Mr. Karci inclined his head slightly as he responded, "One picks up a few things when their siblings are budding young ladies of whom one is most interested in making sure she knows every popular dressmaker within a fifty mile radius of their current residence. In fact, just this morning I received a letter from Yanu describing in great detail the new dress she was having made for the ball my family is planning to hold in about three weeks' time."

Lily suddenly appeared at Mr. Karci's elbow saying, "Why Mr. Karci, you never mentioned anything about your family planning a ball when we last saw you at the picnic. How unkind of you not to mention it sooner, now I will positively have to make arrangements for a new dress by tomorrow if I wish to have it by the ball."

Mr. Karci gave her a small smile as he replied, "Oh I'm sure that you have more than enough time for that since as I said it won't be for a few weeks yet."

Turning to Orihime, he said, "The invitations will be coming from my family, specifically from my father."

Orihime returned his gaze steadily as she replied, "As I said earlier, Mr. Karci, I have no intention of bearing old grudges for comments made in the heat of a passionate exchange. If my aunt, uncle and cousins choose to go, then I will most certainly attend your family's ball."

Mr. Karci seemed to relax slightly but before he could say anything, he was interrupted, as usual, by the appearance of Mr. Jacks and Mr. Crandon. Fortunately though, it was Mr. Crandon that spoke up first this time. However, he addressed his comment to Orihime.

"My goodness, Ms. Inoue, you are a force to be reckoned with."

Orihime looked at him quizzically and asked, "What do you mean?"

Mr. Crandon gave a small smile as he replied, "Not five minutes ago, you left our little gathering to find other guests to entertain and immediately after you find someone on whom you can shower your undivided attention in a sweet and caring manner, the rest of us flock to you in the hopes that we to can bask in the warmth of your kindness."

Orihime fought a losing battle against the blush rising rebelliously in her cheeks as she said, "I don't know what you could possibly mean by that, but I wish you wouldn't say things like that, Mr. Crandon."

Over his shoulder, Orihime noticed a servant approach her uncle and tell him something that seemed to make Mr. Esada very excited. Her uncle began to immediately follow after the servant around the side of the house before Orihime was able return her attention to the group in front of her. Apparently, someone had asked her a question since they all seemed to be looking at her.

Thinking quickly, Orihime suddenly turned to Tisha asking, "It looks as if your cup is empty. Would you like to come and get some punch with me, Tisha?"

Mr. Crandon laid a hand lightly on Orihime's hand as he said, "Allow me."

Orihime began, "Oh no really, I can get it. It won't take but a minute."

Leaning forward slightly, Mr. Crandon said confidentially, "That excuse won't work on me, Ms. Inoue. Allow me and I'll be right back."

Before she could protest, Mr. Crandon gently took Tisha's glass in his hands, made a small bow in Tisha's direction before he left to retrieve the needed beverage.

Mr. Jacks looked at Orihime's hand for a moment before he stuck his hand out saying, "Give it here."

Orihime looked at him uncomprehending when he suddenly reached over and snatched the glass she had clutched in her hands away without a word. Turning on his heel, Mr. Jacks headed in the same direction as Mr. Crandon.

Orihime turned to Tisha and asked, "What is going on?"

Nell laughed aloud, "How did we ever get along without you, Orihime? Cousin Sima is going to have to let you come over for a much longer visit next time."

Orihime turned and asked Nell, "What do you mean?"

"Only that Sima had better not take you home with him right away and deign to stay with us at least until the ball."

A familiar voice spoke behind Orihime saying, "We might be able to arrange that, Nell. Only if it's what Orihime wants."

Hardly daring to breathe, Orihime froze unless she turn around and realize that she was in fact dreaming. After about the space of three seconds, two warm and familiar arms encircled her shoulders in a deeply missed embrace. Raising a shaking hand to gently grasp one of the arms holding her, Orihime felt a light pressure press into the back of her head.

Sora's voice asked teasingly, "What no squeal of delight for your tired brother, Orihime? I traveled the last bit of the journey especially so that I could arrive in time to come to this party."

Opening her mouth to reply, Orihime discovered that she had no words to speak in her shock and joy. Then she did something that she had never done before in her life. She fainted.

**Author's Note:**

So, I kinda, sorta, on purpose didn't list Sora/Sima in the list of characters since I wanted his appearance to be a complete surprise for everyone, not just Orihime. Hopefully, you guys will forgive me and let me know what you think about that little twist, if you don't mind.


	13. What happened afterwards

The Common Thread: Part 13

When Orihime regained her senses, she knew that what she was experiencing was a very convincing dream as she felt her brother's arms securely carrying her somewhere. Although, they would probably reach that somewhere faster if he would but stop pacing in circles in his agitation. She also heard his usually calm and composed voice rise in pitch in his panic.

"Someone fetch a doctor! Where do I take her? What happened to her? What is going on here?"

His questions rolled out of his mouth one after the other before anyone had a chance to respond. Not that they would have known how to respond even if they had been given the chance. Her reaction had been so unexpected that Orihime had slipped through his arms and almost crumpled to the ground before Sima had instinctively snatched her up and held her against his chest protectively.

Orihime rested her head more comfortably against her brother's shoulder and breathed, "Brother, you've come back to me."

Sima ceased his mindless wandering and looked down at his sister with concern, but saying gently, "Of course I've come back. This business trip took me a little longer than I expected, but that only means that I will be able to spend more time with you now."

The effect of hearing his sister's voice was instantaneous and Sima relaxed in knowing that Orihime was all right. He turned to meet his Uncle's concerned gaze behind him when Sirik laid a hand on Sima's arm.

"Bring her inside where there are fewer people."

Sima nodded in agreement as he followed Sirik indoors. Little did he notice the small retinue of people hesitating to follow for a moment before each one determinedly made their way inside the house as well. The only ones not to follow along were Lily and Mr. Syael.

Once inside, Sirik led Sima into the sitting room and gestured for Sima to lay Orihime down on one of the more comfortable looking couches. Giving Sirik a look of gratitude, Sima made his way over to the couch and ever so carefully set Orihime upon it.

As he withdrew his hands from under Orihime, her eyes opened and she said in a quiet yet pleading tone, "Please, don't leave me again."

Sima looked shocked for a moment before he placed one of his hands on her forehead saying, "I'm not going anywhere. Just rest for a while."

He grasped one of her hands with his free one and with the other began to soothingly stroke her hair. Orihime gave a sigh of contentment and allowed her eyes to drift shut once again. Even after Orihime's breathing had evened out showing that she had fallen asleep, Sima continued his gentle ministrations on his sister's head, his face betraying none of his thoughts.

The rest of the group had witnessed the entire scene unfold before them without stirring or uttering a single sound in fear that it would break the kind of spell that seemed to hover in the air around them. When Orihime's face had relaxing in sleep, all eyes had observed the transformation that occurred in her facial features. It seemed to them that with the knowledge of her brother assuring her that he would be there, that the already beautiful face had taken on an even more radiant and breathtaking quality than before.

The spell was broken when the doctor arrived and asked for permission to enter the room to take a look at the patient.

Sima started ever so slightly, looked up and then rose to meet the doctor saying, "Thank you for coming, doctor."

The doctor didn't waste a moment exchanging pleasantries, but simply said, "Not a problem, my good man. Now, what seems to be the trouble?"

Sima got straight to the point, "My sister fainted."

The doctor turned around slowly and met Sima's eyes carefully as he repeated, "Your sister fainted?"

Sima returned the man's gaze and continued, "Yes, she did and she has never done so before. I don't know what could have caused her to suddenly collapse in such a manner since I only greeted her moments before she fainted and as I was walking up behind her, she seemed perfectly fine."

The doctor's eyes cleared in understanding as he returned to examining Orihime, "I see. Well, that does make more sense as to why you called for me."

Mr. Karci interjected, "Well, wouldn't you have come anyways even if Ms. Inoue had been prone to fainting before?"

The doctor didn't look up as he answered, "Young man, my time is not something that I can give out flippantly. If I ran around taking care of every woman who has ever had a fainting spell before, then I would never have the time to take care of patients who truly needed and deserved my attention."

Before Mr. Karci could say anything the doctor continued, "In this case, however, since the young woman in question does not seem to have a history of succumbing to such a state, my summons are completely justified."

At this point, Orihime stirred and opened her eyes to see the doctor bending over her, so he gave her a smile and said kindly, "Well, it looks as if Sleeping Beauty has returned to us."

Orihime's gaze traveled around the room before they rested once more upon the doctor and her face flushed in her embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry for causing so much trouble and worry for everyone. I have no idea what came over me. I'm sure that I'm perfectly all right now and that I-oh."

During her rather frantic speech, Orihime attempted to sit up, but her head spun and her vision became slightly gray and fuzzy, forcing her to lie back once again. The doctor held up a calm hand before any outbursts could occur and turned to address the anxious audience.

"She is only experiencing the aftereffects of her little fainting episode. My prescription at this point is to send her straight to bed with no more excitement and she will likely wake up her bright and cheery self early tomorrow morning. I will come by tomorrow morning just to be on the safe side, but I think this young woman will be just fine."

Sima extended his hand to the doctor saying, "Thank you for your help doctor."

The doctor returned the handshake saying, "Well, now that this little episode is taken care of, I really need to get back to my rounds. See you tomorrow morning, sir."

Sirik stepped forward saying, "Thank you again. I'll show you out."

As the two men left the room, Sima turned back and looked at his sister and knelt down in front of her saying, "My goodness, you scared me."

Orihime looked crestfallen as she replied, "I'm so sorry for causing so much trouble for everyone."

Sima smiled gently and leaned in to kiss her forehead as he said, "Next time, a little more warning would be nice."

Orihime laughed softly as she answered, "If there ever is a next time, I will do my best to give you at least a five minute warning."

Sima carefully slid his arms underneath Orihime once again as he said, "Well, time to follow the doctor's orders. No more socializing for you today, young lady."

Orihime laid her head once again against his shoulder as she replied, "Anything you say, brother."

As Sima headed for the stairs the rest of the group followed Sima and Orihime's progress with their eyes until the pair had reached the upper floor and disappeared down the hallway.

Nell broke the silence saying, "I'm sorry to leave you gentlemen like this, but I should go and see if I can find Cazu anywhere and see if we can help Orihime in any way."

Turning to Tisha, Nell asked kindly, "Would you care to come with me?"

Tisha nodded her head and took Nell's extended hand and allowed the older girl to lead her away. Nell gave a little curtsey in the men's direction before she walked away. The three men were left standing in the room, their eyes still fixed on the spot where Orihime and her brother had vanished from sight. They didn't move or speak for quite some time, until as one they turned and faced each other. There was no need to speak aloud what they could already read in each other's faces and with a look of mutual understanding, they departed from the house with their own private resolutions beginning to form.


	14. The friendly visit

The Common Thread: Part 14

"Oh, my feet are killing me!"

"I told you to wear more sensible shoes, Lily, since we weren't taking the buggy today."

Lily turned and glared at her sister, "Yes, well, I thought I could handle a quick walk into town, but here we are traipsing all over the countryside for no good reason."

Nell looked reproachfully at her sister, "Just go home if you're going to complain and personally I'd prefer it if you did."

Orihime tried to calm down the two sisters saying, "Please don't fight over something like this. This whole thing was my idea and I didn't think to tell you Lily that we weren't going into town right away to pick up the items we ordered for the ball tomorrow night. You are more than welcome to head back home now if your feet are bothering you and I will go to Mrs. Bradbury's to pick up everything we ordered and bring it home as soon as I am done."

Lily ignored her sister's meaningful glance as she asked Orihime, "Just how many more people do you want to visit?"

Orihime pointed to a nearby house saying, "Just that one and then I'll be done. Harden, Hairen and Hatren's mother is pregnant and due to give birth any day now, so I just wanted to stop by and see if she needed anything. Her husband and sons are wonderful, but there are certain things that a woman just can't confide in men, especially in her condition. I have no idea how long this stop will take, so you are still more than welcome to go home."

Lily sighed and said in a resigned voice, "Well, I've already come this far. I might as well see it through."

Orihime smiled at her cousin before turning to Tisha, who was standing to Orihime's right, and asked, "What about you, Tisha? Are you tired and ready to go home at all? You don't have to stay."

Tisha's response was to grasp Orihime's hand and to start pulling the older girl in the direction of the house. Orihime laughed and allowed herself to be towed along by the much more outgoing Tisha.

Over the past two and a half weeks, Tisha had stayed at the Esada residence, much to Orihime's delight. After Tisha had followed Orihime and Sima upstairs, nothing could induce Tisha to relinquish her vigil over her newfound friend. Tisha's grandmother, a woman named Mrs. Tatlefront and who had raised Tisha for the past eight years after her parents had passed away in a terrible accident, had imperiously entered Orihime's room and demanded that Tisha come home with her immediately. Tisha had shied away from her grandmother's advances and seemed immensely afraid of the older woman, but Tisha stubbornly remained where she was until Mr. Esada had finally intervened and asked if Mrs. Tatlefront would kindly allow Tisha to remain with them for a time. After a good deal of Mrs. Tatlefront's blustering and protesting, she eventually gave in saying that the ungrateful girl had better not become a nuisance to the Esada family or Tisha would be sent home straight away. Miraculously, Orihime had slept through the entire affair and when she awoke the next morning she had been greeted by the smiling face of Cazu and the nervous countenance of Tisha.

During the past two weeks, despite all their kindness towards Tisha, no one had been able to coax her into talking. That is not to say, however, that Tisha's demeanor remained as cowed and reserved as it had been when Orihime had first met the girl. Instead, even though Tisha remained mute, her face had lost some of its pitiable loneliness and her smiles became more frequent and radiant with each passing day. She was gradually changing from being a mere ghost into an actual human being with feelings that could be clearly expressed in her facial features. While Orihime was the one who spent the most time with Tisha as she had begged Tisha to share her big room with her, the other members of the Esada family and Sima had also taken to Tisha and her shy yet endearing ways.

Upon arriving at the house, Tisha skipped lightly onto the doorstep and knocked on the front door of the Dasch residence, home of Harden, Hairen, Hatren, their parents and a soon to be born baby. Hatren opened the door.

His young face lit up when he saw who was at the door and promptly ran away yelling, "Mommy! Mommy! Ms. Orihime's come to visit!"

An indistinct voice came from inside the house, which caused Hatren to immediately cease in his headlong dash inside the house, turn and pelt back in the direction of the front door.

When he arrived three seconds later, he said in his excited voice, "Mommy says for me to tell you all too please come in and make yourselves comfortable and to say sorry for not acting like a young gentleman right away."

Having passed along the message, Hatren reached out and grabbed Orihime's hand and pulled her inside saying, "You'll never guess what! Daddy finished making a new crib for the baby since the one I slept in was no good anymore since it was already used for my older brothers and then me and I did the most damage to it since as Daddy said when I was growing into my teeth the only thing I liked to eat was wood. He used to call me 'the little termite' until I finally told him that I didn't like wood anymore so stop calling me that."

Hatren was about to continue in his speech when a firm voice said, "Hatren Dasch," and he immediately responded, "Yes, Mommy?"

"Stop dragging poor Ms. Inoue so. You're libel to pull her arm right off."

The speaker was a woman in her early thirties, who was sitting up partially on a bed inside one of the few bedrooms. Her face was pleasant and pretty, though slightly fatigued. At the moment, her expression seemed to be fighting to keep a slightly reproachful look in place, but amusement and laughter were dancing in Mrs. Dasch's eyes.

"Now go and kindly fetch your brothers. Tell them to please bring two of Daddy's chairs inside from his workshop as we have unexpected guests. Make sure they are ones with cushions, please."

Hatren nodded in understanding, slowly turned and walked out of the room. Once he was out of sight, the unmistakable sound of running feet faded away as Hatren went to summon his siblings.

Smiling slightly to herself and unconsciously rubbing her extended stomach, Mrs. Dasch remarked, "I only hope that once the baby comes that Hatren is able to put his energy to more use or I'll be running myself ragged within three months."

Turning her attention to the ladies standing in front of her, Mrs. Dasch made as if to get out of bed saying, "And here am I, not any better than my youngest, sitting around in bed while my guests remain standing and waiting for me to remember my manners."

Orihime quickly walked over and put a firm hand on the woman's shoulder saying, "Don't even think about getting out of that bed, Mrs. Dasch. We actually came out to see how you were getting along and if there was anything we could do to help you."

Mrs. Dasch looked about ready to protest, when Nell cut her off saying, "No need to thank us just yet, Mrs. Dasch. We haven't even done anything yet."

Taking the hint, Mrs. Dasch settled back against her pillows sighing, "My mother was just here this morning pampering me and now four young society ladies are coming to treat me like a princess. If this keeps up, I'll be spoiled for the rest of my life."

Orihime smiled as looked around saying, "Well, it looks as if your mother took care of most of the housework such as dusting, so that gives us time to make you some treats."

Turning to Tisha, Orihime asked, "Would you go into the kitchen and see about putting together a tray of tea things, please? All the things we need should be in that basket I gave you, so you just have to finish assembling everything."

Tisha smiled and nodded as she headed for the kitchen. A few days into Tisha's stay, Orihime had discovered that Tisha had a love for cooking and baking and she was really good at it.

A few moments later, heavy footfalls sounded out in the hallway before Hairen and Harden came in the room bearing two beautiful oak rocking chairs with cushions on the backs and seats. They set them down carefully in the room before retreating for a brief moment to retrieve two more chairs from within the dining room, gave the ladies a quick and polite greeting before they returned to help Mr. Dasch in his carpentry shop that was located behind the house.

Orihime and the others visited with Mrs. Dasch over tea for the next hour or so, before Orihime suggested that they make Mrs. Dasch more comfortable in her bed by changing the linen, giving Mrs. Dasch a sponge bath and decorating the room with some wildflowers which Nell had found along the way. Their visit lasted about two and a half hours in total and when at last Orihime said it was time for them to leave, Mrs. Dasch heartily thanked them all for their kindness and said she would bring them all something sweet and tasty as soon as the stubborn baby came and she was allowed back on her feet again.

As they walked away, Lily commented, "Those were uncommonly well made chairs in the house. Mr. Dasch made them all, right?"

Nell nodded, "I think so, but carpentry has been the Dasch family business for years, so maybe it was something his father or grandfather built. The table and chairs in our dining room were made by Mr. Dasch after Mother and Father were married."

Lily's eyes widened as she replied, "I didn't know that. But that set has such fine artwork all over the sides and legs and the chairs in the house were so plain."

Nell smiled, "The Dasch's are probably the best in all of England when it comes to woodwork. However, as for their own furniture, I imagine as they are not very wealthy that they don't really see the need for such artistry on furniture since you don't really need it in order for a chair or table to be functional."

The conversation went on as they entered into town and headed straight for Mrs. Bradbury's Shop to pick up their gowns and accessories for Mr. Karci's ball. As they headed home, carrying their fairly bulky packages and talking about the evening to come, the evening in question was going to turn out much different from how they were imaging at this point.


	15. The start of the Karci Ball

The Common Thread: Part 15

The night of the Karci ball came and everyone who was anyone within the district of Cannonbury arrived decked out in their absolute best. Rumor had it that the Karci family was distantly related to some high society officials and possibly royalty, so the likelihood of someone of high station and influence deigning to mingle with the high society of Cannonbury was not something that anyone wanted to miss.

The Esada family was punctually late in their arrival in front of the Karci residence at half past six o'clock. The games of society played out much the same as they did in any other city or town in that one always wanted to make a stunning entrance. Little mattered what happened after that point as long as there were numerous enough people at the gathering who had arrived ahead of you in order that your entrance should be noticed and talked about. Mr. Esada could really care less what kind of an appearance their family made at a ball and would rather have arrived at the time posted on the actual invitation, which was six o'clock exactly. Mrs. Esada, however, wanted to give her daughters a chance to have something of an entrance and so had convinced Mr. Esada to push back their arrival time half an hour so that at least there might be someone to notice when the Esada family began to mingle at the Karci ball.

To paraphrase a genius playwright, it was a lot of fuss over nothing. At least, that's what Orihime thought, but she wisely kept her ridiculous ideas to herself.

"Isn't this all just too exciting?" gushed Lily as she all but jumped out the window of the carriage in order to see the Karci house as they were pulling up the long drive, "The Karci's are supposed to be extremely well connected."

Orihime couldn't help but smile at what she imagined Aunt Hanil's response to Lily's making an exhibition of herself at the moment, but the Esada family had needed to ride in two carriages partially because with all the dresses and finery only four women could fit inside without wrinkling or damaging something. However, Orihime had a sneaking suspicion that it also had something to do with the fact that showing up in two carriages instead of just one would also put the Esada family in the running for the most stunning entrance, so Orihime was traveling with Lily, Tisha and Nell while her brother, Aunt Hanil and Uncle Sirik rode in a carriage in front of them.

Nell rolled her eyes and said drolly, "And as well connected as the Karci family supposedly is, what do you suppose they might think of a young woman shoving half her body out of a carriage window in order to gawk at their home?"

Nell's comment had an immediate reaction from Lily as she hurled herself back inside the carriage and into her seat beside her sister. In the faint light, it was hard to tell if Lily were blushing at her rash behavior, but since she made no comment it was likely the case.

In the next two minutes that it took to actually reach the house, everyone in the carriage remained silent, which was likely not a very good idea as not talking about what makes you nervous and trying to put a brave face on things most of the time only makes matters worse. The carriage pulled up to the front entrance and moments later a coachman opened the door, adjusted the small set of steps leading out and assisted all the young women to alight from their fancy form of transportation.

Looking around herself, Orihime took little notice of the house structure or how grand it looked. Rather, her attention was arrested when the corner of her eye caught some quick movement from the second floor but once her gaze turned upon the area, there was nothing to be seen. She didn't have much time to reflect on what she had seen, or rather had not seen quite in time, as her aunt, uncle and brother merged themselves into their midst.

Aunt Hanil spoke first saying, "All right ladies. Time to put your best foot forward since this ball is far more important than the last one we went to. The Esada family pride rests on your shoulders."

Orihime thought of something and tried not to laugh as she leaned over to whisper in Tisha's ear, "Both of my feet can be so clumsy, I have no idea which one is better so that I can display it for all here to see."

Tisha did not make a sound, but her eyes glowed and danced as she showed Orihime that she understood and appreciated the joke. Linking arms, the two young women fell into step behind the already proceeding party.

Noticing something out of the ordinary, Orihime looked over to where Lily was and saw to her amazement that Lily had begun to walk in the most unusual fashion. Holding her right arm away from her body, Lily's hand bent out at a ninety degree angle and was swaying back and forth as she walked while her left hand held the least amount of material possible from her dress away from her feet using only about three fingers while the other two stuck up in the air like flagpoles. Her steps were painfully small and the sound of shuffling gravel under Lily's feet caused Orihime to want to stare at her cousin and the spectacle she portrayed. Out of the corner of her eye, Orihime noticed Tisha glancing in Lily's direction as well, but both girls dared not look at one another or the composure they had managed to muster would be lost and Aunt Hanil's long anticipated entrance into the Karci residence would be in shambles. Not wanted to incite her aunt's vengeance, Orihime pulled her lips inside her mouth and bit down firmly enough to try and keep the laughter inside.

Nell, as always, bluntly told her sister, "You look like a peacock with a stomach ache."

Lily only had time to throw her sister a fierce glance for a moment before the party arrived at the front door and their best feet (best expressed in their most congenial facial expressions, since all but the men's feet were covered by long dresses…except for Lily's…shocking…) were brought forth for the entire gathering inside to take notice of.

The elder Mr. Karci, better known to Orihime as Mr. Kurosaki, laughed boisterously upon their entrance and all but leaped over in order to warmly shake Mr. Esada's hand saying, "Why, Mr. Esada, it is a pleasure, such an absolute pleasure that you and your family could join us this fine evening."

Mr. Esada calmly received his host's overly warm welcome with a calm smile, responding, "The pleasure is ours, to be sure, that you extended the invitation to not only my wife, daughters and me, but also to my nephew, niece and young friend who has been visiting with us these past few weeks, Mr. Karci."

The elder Mr. Karci put on a mock face of reproach as he said, "Now, now. Mr. Karci is my son and the one who runs our estate since he thought I was incapable of the job about three years ago and simply told me that he was taking over. I still do my own business now and then, but I have appreciated my son's initiative in wanted to take over the family affairs while he is still young and learning like I did when he was his age. So, as I said, my son is Mr. Karci and you may simply call me Mr. Itain, since that's my first name."

"Father, why are you becoming a nuisance already? Not even half of the guests have arrived."

The new voice was one that Orihime was fairly familiar with and turning she met a very lady-like version of Karin. She looked stunning in a dress with different shades of blue scattered across the skirt like a sky torn between beautiful weather and an oncoming storm with her long dark hair swept up atop her head in a simple yet flattering style.

Mr. Itain looked crestfallen as he said to his daughter, "I'm not being a nuisance, and I'm simply being friendly to our guests. On another note, how many times do I have to ask you to call me anything other than 'father'? It sounds so cold and distant when you say it like you do, Karen-bear."

Glaring at Mr. Itain, Karen replied, "I'll stop calling you 'father', Father, when you stop calling me ridiculous name."

Before Mr. Itain could say anything else, another voice came from the staircase, "Now, now. Let's not act like this in front of our guests."

Orihime turned her gaze upwards like everyone else and saw Mr. Karci escorting the new Yuzu down the stairs. Yuzu's dress was similar in style to Karen's, though the color was of purple and of one solid shade around the skirt with some lighter purple taffeta around the top of the dress.

Mr. Itain brightened when he saw his other offspring approaching, saying, "There you are, Yanu! You look positively stunning. Both you and Karen are growing up so fast."

Yanu offered her father a smile before she turned her attention to the small group of people before her, saying, "It's a pleasure to finally meet all of you. Welcome to our home."

While her eyes still danced with delight at seeing the guests, Orihime noticed that this version of Yuzu seemed to be more refined and reserved in her displays of emotion. At least in public, that is, as Orihime would eventually discover.

After introductions were handled all around, the Esada family proceeded into the next stage of the night, which was to enjoy the ball. At least, from what Orihime understood from Aunt Hanil, under no circumstances were any of them to act as if they weren't having a good time. From their welcome, though, Orihime had no doubt that this ball would by quite enjoyable.

They entered a large room off to the side where the guests waited until mostly everyone else appeared before they would be escorted into dinner. Orihime fervently hoped that the rest of the guests would not delay their coveted entrance so long that dinner would be postponed for too long as she could faintly smell some of the dishes cooking already and she willed her mouth to remain dry and her stomach to keep silent at the sumptuous smells drifting by. Looking over at Tisha, Orihime saw the girl giving her a knowing smile and nodded to a private corner of the room as she gently pulled Orihime along.

Upon arrival at their little nook, Orihime let out a breath before she said, "I really wish it was lady-like to laugh, but then again, Lily was trying to follow her mother's advice about putting her best foot forward."

Tisha gave Orihime a meaningful look to which Orihime giggled in response as she said, "I know though, it was quite amusing to watch at the time. Much more of that, and I think I might have strained some of my stomach muscles with trying not to make even more of a scene."

Orihime shook her head and took a deep breath to compose herself before she grasped Tisha's hands asking, "Anyway, what I really want to know right now is what's for dinner? I'm sure you smelled everything too and your nose is better than mine at guessing what it might be. What do you think?"

Tisha looked thoughtful for a few moments before her eyes glowed with meaning so Orihime asked excitedly, "All right, is there chicken? Yes? Ok, what kind of chicken? Roast? No? Smoked? No? Baked? Yes? Oh, that sounds good. Ok, now what else. Some kind of bread? Yes? Rolls? Yes? And there's more…um…sweet bread? Yes?"

Orihime and Tisha were so intent upon their parlay, that they didn't notice a tall male figure approaching them until a deep voice suddenly said, "The cook is best known for her pumpkin bread, but I prefer the cranberry zucchini one myself."

Both girls jumped guiltily and whirled around to face the amused countenance of Mr. Crandon.

Orihime's eyes flashed with slight annoyance and guilt as she said, "Mr. Crandon! Whatever are you doing here?"

Mr. Crandon put on a mournful expression as he said, "Why, I was invited to Mr. Karci's house the same way you, Tisha and your family were. Don't I have a right to seek out a familiar face in this greatly increasing crowd?"

Orihime wanted desperately to put her hands on her hips, but kept them at her side as she replied, "That's not what I meant and you know it. Why did you feel the need to sneak up on us like that and scare us nearly out of our wits?"

Mr. Crandon placed a hand over his heart and looked wounded as he said, "Heaven forbid that I would ever purposefully do such a churlish thing as to scare you and Tisha."

Before Orihime could respond, Mr. Jacks suddenly appeared and threw an arm around Mr. Crandon's shoulders as he asked, "Hey there Umara. So this is where you ran off too. I thought you noticed me over there trying to get your attention, but I'm not surprised that these lovely doves managed to attract your fancy, though."

Mr. Crandon's expression took on its usual look of boredom and strained patience as he said, "Maybe I desired more refined company for a change."

Mr. Jacks was about to reply when Mr. Karci made his appearance saying smoothly, "No fighting in here, please. Umara, if you want to kill Garrow do be a good fellow and wait until tomorrow morning since a duel at the first ball that Yanu and Karen tried to plan mostly on their own would not be a pleasant situation to have to deal with."

Mr. Crandon nodded in resignation and all of them turned towards the large double doors with the rest of the gathered guests as a servant entered, rang a high bell and said three words that made Orihime's heart leap for joy.

"Dinner is served."


	16. From eating to dancing

The Common Thread: Part 16

The journey from the gathering hall to the dining room seemed to take much longer than it should have in Orihime's opinion since instead of moving towards the door right away, people still mingled for a minute or two longer. It was then that she saw the next part of the game high society can sometimes play unfold. Ladies were pulling out there fans all around the room and fanning themselves in such a way that it seemed as though it was a hot and sticky evening in the middle of August rather than cool and pleasant early fall weather. They also seemed to be craning their necks around in very strange ways and yet trying not to make it too obvious that they were doing so.

Orihime turned to Tisha with a completely lost expression and the girl's response was to shrug her shoulders and roll her eyes.

A low laugh caught Orihime's attention and saw Mr. Crandon's amused expression had returned as he leaned slightly closer and said, "Apparently, Ms. Inoue has no desire or need to try and catch the eye of an escort to dinner as she already has three candidates standing before her."

Orihime's expression became more confused than before when Mr. Karci said, "While I would dearly love to do the honor of escorting Ms. Inoue or her charming companion to dinner, unfortunately, I must take my leave of you for the time being and assist my sisters as they made me promise to do."

With a small bow, Mr. Karci walked away and Orihime sensed that there was something different about this man who had just been standing before her, but she couldn't put her finger on what it might be. Her attention was wrenched from her inner thoughts when Mr. Jacks suddenly stood in front of her with his hand outstretched but his face looking away, trying to act nonchalant for some reason. At a loss over what was going on, Orihime quickly turned her gaze to Tisha who turned her eyes in Mr. Jacks' direction and made the slightest inclination of her head in order to emphasize her point. Turning back to Mr. Jacks, Orihime uncertainly reached out her hand and placed it in Mr. Jacks outstretched one. While she could never be quite sure afterwards, it seemed to Orihime as if Mr. Jacks let out a breath that he had been holding for whatever reason.

To add to her confusion, Orihime could have sworn she heard Mr. Crandon whispering to Mr. Jacks, "Well played," before Mr. Crandon turned his attention to Tisha and graciously bowed to her and asked, "Would you do me the honor of allowing me to escort you in to dinner, Ms. Tisha?"

Orihime looked back at the young girl and saw her trying to keep the blush out of her cheeks as she nodded and took Mr. Crandon's proffered hand. Orihime's heart glowed as she watched her friend receive such attention.

Tisha had bloomed into a beautiful young lady overnight, or so it seemed to Orihime. Tonight, the 15 year old young lady looked positively radiant with her dark brown hair piled flatteringly atop her head, which she held high in confidence now. Cazu had willingly helped Orihime and Tisha with their hair before and tonight Cazu had outdone herself. After she had finished with Tisha's hair and looked at Tisha fully dressed, Cazu had stood pondering for a moment before her eyes light up and she skipped out of the room telling Tisha not to move as she would be right back. A minute later, Cazu returned bearing a small bunch of light blue flowers and began arranging them in Tisha's hair, which set off the darkness of her hair and matched well with the rest of Tisha's ensemble. The dress Tisha wore was a sapphire blue silk with a sheer taffeta overtop the skirt to give a more smoky and ethereal look about the dress. Nell had allowed the girl to wear some of her jewelry and the simple, yet elegant, sapphire necklace around Tisha's throat only helped to enhance the sparkle of the girl's eyes.

Orihime's attention was once again brought back to the present by an action from Mr. Jacks when he gently took her hand and moved it until it was gently nestled in the crook of his arm. Suddenly, it all became clear what was going on and Orihime mentally scolded herself for not realizing it sooner as she would have likely looked less foolish. She followed Mr. Jacks' lead with Mr. Crandon and Tisha coming behind and walked for the immense double doors at the other end of the room.

Looking around, she noticed Uncle Sirik escorting his wife, while Lily was being taken inside by Mr. Syael and Nell had the arm of Sima. There were other people around the room that she remembered from the garden party and politely exchanged smiles with them, but was very glad that she didn't have to speak with them just yet.

When they arrived in the dining room, it took all of Orihime's willpower not to squeal with delight at the sight of all the delicious looking food laid out on the table as well as the trays being held by servants standing all around the room. There was no specific seating arrangement and so once Mr. Garrow had helped Orihime into her seat he took the open one on Orihime's right while Mr. Crandon sat on her left with Tisha beside him. Looking around, Orihime saw that the entire table was the same way in that a woman had a man to her right and left and vice versa.

Once everyone was seated, Mr. Karci nodded to the servants and they began moving around serving the guests. Orihime's eyes glowed with pleasure as she delicately tried to take a sample of as many things as she possibly could before her plate was almost full. The mashed potatoes melted in her mouth, the rolls were delightfully crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside, several varieties of pudding made it onto her plate as well as an assortment of other foods which she had no idea what were called but tasted delicious all the same. The meal was slow-paced and leisurely and Orihime was glad of it since she loved to have time to savor her food. Every ten minutes or so, a new course would begin and Orihime would look joyously around her at the food making its way around the room. Finally, after about an hour the final course came and Orihime was glad she had only taken samplings of everything otherwise she would have been in trouble when it came to dancing which was going to happen immediately following the scrumptious meal.

While she had technically carried on a conversation with Mr. Jacks and Mr. Crandon, Orihime could not recall a word she had said or what the conversation had been about, so focused had she been on the delightful tastes and smells intriguing her senses throughout dinner. Now, she forced her mind back to the people around her as Mr. Jacks stood and assisted her out of her chair as well. Wrapping her hand through his arm, Orihime allowed Mr. Jacks to escort her to the ballroom where the strains of a small orchestra could be heard warming up.

As soon as the guests arrived, the conductor turned around, bowed and gave a brief word of welcome on the behalf of the orchestra welcoming them to such a lovely occasion and location as the Karci residence. He informed them that they would start the evening with a popular waltz with Mr. Karci, Mr. Itain, Yanu and Karen opening the dance floor. These said hosts made their way elegantly to the floor, Mr. Karci escorting Yanu as before while Mr. Itain delightedly led Karen onto the dance floor. The music began and the two couples began to dance their way around the room in a most graceful manner. Soon other couples began to join them until it looked as if one misstep from any couple would bring everyone else down in the process.

Orihime noticed that whomever had been together as a couple walking into the dining room were now the couples dancing together for this first dance, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise to her when Mr. Jacks suddenly gave her a low bow and extended his hand inquiringly, but for the space of about ten seconds Orihime stood dumbfounded and unsure of what to do until she slowly placed her hand in his once again. Before she knew what had happened, she was whisked onto the dance floor and she quickly found out that she had absolutely no idea how to dance a waltz and Mr. Jacks' feet were paying the price for her ignorance. The first time it happened, Orihime was hard put to understand how she had stepped on something so firm like the ground and yet soft until she saw Mr. Jacks' face grimace ever so slightly. Every time after that, her face became redder and redder until she was positive that someone would cry out that she must have a fever or something. At long last, the dance ended and Orihime thought that Mr. Jacks must be as relieved as she was to have it end. As they walked to the outskirts of the dance floor, Orihime silently vowed not to put any other man's toes in such jeopardy for the rest of the evening.

Mr. Jacks nearly made her fall over in surprise when he smiled at her and said, "I can't think of another time when I've been so entertained while dancing, Ms. Inoue."

Before she could say anything, apology or protest, Mr. Jacks gave her another deep bow saying that he would return again later to have another dance with her if he could and left to mingle with others on the other side of the room. Orihime slowly sank into a couch situated behind her, but had little time to relish its comfort when Mr. Crandon suddenly stood in front of her offering his hand in the same way Mr. Jacks had. In her astonishment, Orihime forgot about her vow until they were finally on the dance floor.

Orihime said in a mortified voice, "Mr. Crandon, I'm very sorry, I don't know what I was thinking, but I think you should find yourself another partner before it's too late."

Mr. Crandon looked at her quizzically and asked, "Is that so? Why may I ask?"

"If you value your toes at all, Mr. Crandon, you will find someone more suited to staying away from them."

Mr. Crandon's eyes danced with laughter as he answered, "Oh, is that all. Well, let me tell you that the cobbler I bought these shoes from is the best in the business and I asked him specifically to design these shoes for a ball in the hopes that no dance partner's heels would crush the digits on my feet. Therefore, I believe we are both safe."

Orihime gave him a vague look for a moment before the music commenced and she was once more swept away through the crowd in a dance that she had no idea how it went. To make matters worse, out of the corner of her eye at one point, Orihime noticed her Aunt Hanil looking at her with something akin to mortification and Orihime began to wish that a black hole would open up beneath her feet to swallow her whole before she had a chance to hear what Aunt Hanil was obviously considering what to say to Orihime later. As before, it seemed to take forever for the dance to finally be over, and Orihime nearly sagged with relief when Mr. Crandon began escorting her towards the couch she had vacated previously.

Orihime felt completely at a loss for words when Mr. Crandon bowed to her and said, "Thank you for the privilege of your hand, Ms. Inoue. I'm sorry, but I must find your delightful friend Tisha now and see if she would wish to join me in another dance soon."

For once Orihime was able to respond in a complete and intelligible sentence, "Oh yes, Mr. Crandon. I'm sure Tisha would welcome the opportunity."

With another slight bow, Mr. Crandon disappeared into the great crowd and Orihime thought she would be left to herself at last, but that was not to be as suddenly another gloved hand entered her field of vision and looking over she found herself gazing into the highly amused brown eyes of Mr. Karci.

"I'm terribly sorry to disturb you so soon, Ms. Inoue," his eyes clearly said the contrary, "but would you do me the honor of accepting my invitation to dance?"

This time, Orihime had recovered her wits enough to reply, "I would prefer to decline."

Mr. Karci's countenance fell dejectedly and Orihime could tell at once that he was not playing around as he asked in a tone full of regret, "Am I still as repulsive and boorish in your eyes as I was on that day? I assure you, Ms. Inoue, that I took your criticisms, justly given by the way, to heart and have endeavored to right wrongs that may have been committed in a similar manner from before I met you."

Orihime didn't know how to respond for a moment before understanding flooded her and her face turned slightly red once more as she stammered, "Oh no, Mr. Karci! It is not due to your character that I would prefer to decline, but on the grounds that I have these past two dances made positive mincemeat out of poor Mr. Jacks' and Mr. Crandon's toes. They were gentlemanly enough not to make a scene over my mortifying lack of refinement, but I am sure that they are regretting ever having stooped themselves to the humiliation of having me for their partner."

Mr. Karci's eyes had begun to dance as soon as Orihime started talking and by the time she was finished, he looked very hard pressed not to bust out laughing in this highly refined company and so simply said, "Ms. Inoue, you have to know something about Garrow, Umara and myself. While we do have our differences, quite a few of them actually, we do share one thing in common. We may gloss over the truth if something was not entirely to our liking, but if Garrow and Umara said that they enjoyed dancing with you immensely, you can rest assured that they spoke the truth."

Orihime looked at him doubtfully and asked in a skeptical voice, "Even though I stomped on their toes so much they must have turned to jelly?"

Mr. Karci thought for a moment before he said, "Into toe jam."

Orihime blinked and managed, "Excuse me?"

"You might have stomped their toes into jam, but that's about it. No harm done. Now, may I have the pleasure of this dance, Ms. Inoue?"

Mr. Karci bent over in a very deep bow and held out his hand once more, to which Orihime sighed in resignation and warned him, "If you discover tomorrow morning that your feet are flatter than a pancake, don't say I didn't warn you."

"When it comes to dancing with a lovely woman such as yourself," Mr. Karci replied, "I am thoroughly ready to risk losing the use of my feet for that same pleasure."

This comment caused Orihime's mouth to quirk upwards slightly, but not much as she still thought that Irodonio's 'romantic dribble' far outshone Mr. Karci's attempts.


	17. How the night finally ended

The Common Thread: Part 17

Mr. Karci turned out to be a wonderful partner as he secretly whispered instructions on the different steps and gave Orihime enough time to process the information several seconds before the before mentioned step was executed. He did this in a way that could not be overheard or suspected from any other couple on the floor or among the spectators, all though, if anyone had been paying a lot of attention, they would have been surprised to see Orihime suddenly transform from a floundering duck on the dance floor into a graceful swan. Now that she actually understood what was going on, Orihime began to enjoy herself being swept around the dance floor with her skirts swirling around her in a most becoming manner.

Once Orihime became more familiar with the dance as the steps did reoccur several times, Mr. Karci struck up a conversation saying, "Well, Ms. Inoue, I believe my toes are still in their correct state and you are looking remarkably more comfortable out here."

Orihime lowered her eyes and face slightly to hide the hint of pink entering her cheeks, "I should thank you for having such faith and patience with me."

Mr. Karci gave her a genuine smile as he replied, "Any time, Ms. Inoue, if you would return the favor to me when I seem to stray away."

Mr. Karci's face became more serious as he said, "Ms. Inoue, I don't mean to put a damper on the perfectly lovely dance, but I must speak on a topic that has bothered me for some time."

Orihime looked at him wide eyed and he went on almost in a hurry, "I know I already wrote you a letter and you have assured me of your forgiveness and I have sought out the Dasch family and explained what I have done and endeavored to show them my sincere remorse over what I did to their innocent children, but still my mind will not be at ease. I must ask you face to face and maybe this is not entirely the proper setting and I should have done it sooner, but I will ask anyway."

As Mr. Karci turned his gaze back upon Orihime's face, Orihime responded by gently lifting her left hand away from Mr. Karci's shoulder and placed it lightly over Mr. Karci's slightly open mouth. When he gave her a look of complete incomprehension, Orihime allowed her mouth to curve upwards in a kind smile.

"Mr. Karci, there is no need to drudge up the past anymore. Put your mind at ease since I can see from your eyes that you are no longer the same man from several weeks ago. You are no longer the spoiled, self-centered brute that you were, but a true gentleman. I would be honored if you would consider me a friend from now on."

As Orihime spoke, Mr. Karci's expression had begun to glow with delight. It had faltered slightly when she had mentioned 'being his friend', but all his training over the years had taught him how to hide the more disagreeable emotions that should not be displayed in public on any account and so he was able to keep a genuine smile on his face as he responded.

"Thank you, Ms. Inoue. I gladly accept your offer on all accounts."

Soon after the dance ended and this time Orihime enthusiastically joined in with the other dancers in applauding the orchestra before the next musical selection began. Mr. Karci held out his bent arm to Orihime and she smiled as she accepted his silent offer. For the third time, Orihime was escorted to the couch and Mr. Karci gave her one last bow before begging to be excused for the time being, but asked if he might approach her later for another dance.

Orihime smiled as she replied, "If you are willing to teach me the steps all over again, then yes, I think that would be lovely, Mr. Karci."

Mr. Karci's face lightened once again as he deepened his bow, straightened and slowly walked away as if reluctant to leave Orihime's side.

Wishing fervently that it was not unladylike to lean against the back of the couch (for why would furniture makers put backs on couches if they were not to be leaned against, Orihime wanted to know) since her feet could use a break from touching the floor, but she contented herself with a long, silent sigh of relief that she could at last sit down for a longer space of time.

As with most such contented thoughts, Orihime's wish was not to be as she felt a light tap on her shoulder. Turning, Orihime met the kind, yet determined, gaze of Yanu.

"Pardon my intrusion, Ms. Inoue," said Yanu politely, "but if it wouldn't be objectionable for you, would you mind having a private word with me?"

Orihime smiled as she stood, replying, "No trouble at all, Ms. Karci."

Yanu smiled as she took Orihime's arm and linked it through her own, saying as she led Orihime, "Oh, Karen is older, so she's the real 'Ms. Karci'. Please, call me Ms. Yanu, or when we are alone, just Yanu."

Orihime's smile widened as she said, "Then I insist you call me by only my first name in private as well."

Yanu nodded as she asked, "And what is your first name?"

"Orihime."

"A beautiful name, to be sure. Ah, here we are."

Yanu had led Orihime outside and a little way into the backyard, close to a kind of bush maze at the back of the house. There was a small white bench in a kind of alcove just outside the maze and Yanu led Orihime over and motioned for her to be seated.

For a moment, Orihime closed her eyes and relished the peaceful atmosphere of the outdoors, with the faint sounds from the party drifting past her ears, the feel of a slight breeze cooling her fairly warm face and the smell of the grass and flowers tickling her nose.

The sound of Yanu's voice caused Orihime's eyes and attention to become focused as Yanu said, "This is going to sound like a very foolish question and I hope that you don't think me impertinent, but are you the young woman who chewed out my brother a few weeks ago at a picnic that Iano was hosting?"

Orihime gave a deep sigh, put a hand to her forehead and draped her upper body over the back of the bench in a most unladylike fashion as she said, "Yes, I am sorry to say that that was me. I really shouldn't be surprised that you know about it. I'm sure the whole country has probably heard the story of how I made a spectacle of myself. Not that I regret my actions and I have wholeheartedly forgiven your brother on several occasions, but my gravestone will probably say something to the effect of 'Here lies Orihime Inoue. A woman incapable of keeping her big mouth shut,' or something to that effect. I should have just taken those boys and walked away rather than scolding your brother and Mr. Jacks like a fishwife."

Yanu laid a hand on Orihime's shoulder as she said, "That's not what I meant at all. I heard Iano assure you that you were perfectly in the right on that occasion and I agree with him. I just wanted to be sure that it was you that incited such a dramatic change in my brother and to thank you personally for…to use the same phrase…scolding my brother like a fishwife to help snap him out of his selfish ways. I can't think of any other woman in his acquaintance who could have done said what you did and had that impact on him."

Yanu stemmed Orihime's protests with an upraised hand and continued, "After tonight, I will never bring this up again since as you also said earlier, the past should remain in the past once it has been dealt with. I just wanted you to see that it is not just my brother that you have impacted, but his friends, Mr. Crandon and Mr. Jacks, and I have never seen Tisha at very many public gatherings at all and yet here she is glowing and catching the eye of more than a few good and kind young men."

Yanu gently grasped Orihime's hands in her own as she said, "I'm sure no one else has told you this, but I am now. You are a special person, Orihime. You are able to see things in people that no one else can see, or even if they can, you have the ability to affect those same people through touching some part of their heart and soul. Thank you, Orihime, and don't ever lose your gentle, loving and kind heart since I am sure there are far more people in the world in need of your care."

With that, Yanu gave Orihime one last glowing smile, got up from the bench and left Orihime to ponder for a long time out in the garden. After a time, Orihime's face relaxed into a smile once again and she rose to go fulfill her promises to Tisha, Mr. Jacks, Mr. Crandon and Mr. Karci.

The bright glow of the moon could not be held in comparison to the glow emanating from Orihime for the rest of the evening.


	18. A day full of surprises

The Common Thread: Part 18

"You wanted to see me, Uncle?"

"Ah, yes. Please come in and shut the door, Orihime."

Orihime nodded, turned, shut the door and then entered her Uncle Sirik's study. Looking around, Orihime saw her brother situated in a chair slightly to the left of the huge desk while her uncle was sitting in the large, wing-backed chair behind the desk. Accepting her uncle's silent invitation with a nod, Orihime sat down in a chair directly in front of her uncle.

Mr. Esada rifled through some papers for a few moments before he gradually began, "I wanted to pull you aside, with your brother's permission and in his presence, before we presented this news to the rest of the family concerning you."

Orihime sat silently and waited for him to continue, which he did a few moments later as he set the letters down, "I have received a few letters of correspondence of rather serious intent just this morning that require your attention, Orihime, but not necessarily an immediate response. All parties have simply put forth a request and have made it quite clear that they will wait patiently for your decision. This must be very clear from the start, to you, as I wish you to understand that you are under no pressure from anyone, myself and your brother included, in giving your answer to any of these inquiries."

Orihime nodded slowly and said, "I understand."

She allowed her eyes to ask the question she desperately wanted to verbalize and Mr. Esada obliged Orihime with a quick response this time when he said, "These letters were addressed to both your brother and me with requests from three separate parties for permission to call upon you in acts of courtship with the hope of someday asking for your hand in marriage."

Orihime sat confounded for the space of about a minute until Sima leaned forward slightly and said softly, "I realize this is a lot to take in right now, Orihime, but remember you are under no pressure to give replies to any of these requests right this moment. While courtship does often lead to marriage, there are plenty of cases were couples discover that they are not quite suited for one another and break things off amiably before marriage even comes into the picture."

Orihime stirred and tried to keep her voice light as she replied, "Oh yes, I hadn't forgotten your assurances on that point. If it wouldn't be too much trouble, might I see the letters?"

Mr. Esada smiled and silently handed the letters in question into Orihime's slightly shaky hands. Her eyes barely even glanced at any other words other than the signatures at the bottom of each piece of paper and she could barely believe her eyes. Mr. Jacks, Mr. Crandon and Mr. Karci had written of their love for her and their desire to get to know her better in the hope of her one day becoming a bride.

In her state of confusion, Orihime barely took time to take leave of her uncle and brother before se mechanically made her way to the door with the single objective to get outside and clear her head of all the cluttered thoughts swirling in her brain. Luckily for her, she met with no one on her way to her favorite spot in the whole Esada garden, which was sitting behind a big oak tree in the back yard hidden from view of the house. Flopping in a most unladylike fashion on the ground, Orihime closed her eyes and rested her head and the side of her face against the comfortably rough bark of the oak tree and let the calm of the outdoors slowly sap away her confusion and turmoil over this sudden turn of events.

Never in all her life could Orihime have imagined a more sensitive situation to be involved in and since she had always been the one to love and admire someone from a distance to now suddenly be on the receiving end was quite unnerving. To add to that fact that it was not just one but three men who had expressed feelings of love and devotion for her only made her head spin all the more.

Now that she was able to look at the situation somewhat rationally, Orihime came to three conclusions. First, since she was not the kind of person who thrived on men vying for her attention, she would have to reject at least two of the three men, if not all of them if she couldn't come to a decision. Second, even though her uncle and brother had stressed the point that she was not to feel rushed into a decision, still she couldn't bring herself to force these men to wait more than a day for a reply to their heartfelt requests since they had bared their hearts on paper, knowing full well that she might reject them anyway. Lastly, she really wished that she was anyone else but Orihime Inoue at this moment.

Pulling her legs up toward her chest, Orihime placed her chin on her upraised knees and allowed her thoughts to linger on each man individually and her impressions of them from when she had first met them to when she had danced with each of them two nights ago. They had all changed since that first day at the picnic, from what she had heard and observed for herself, for the better. Mr. Karci had undergone the most dramatic change since her arrival and she did have to admit that there were times at the Karci ball when she had danced with Mr. Karci (they had danced together a total of three times which apparently was an exorbitant amount of times to dance with one partner at a ball according to Aunt Hanil, but she had not seemed too put out when she had informed Orihime on this point) that she had found herself comparing him to Ichigo and finding more similarities that had previously been nonexistent.

In the cases of Mr. Crandon and Mr. Jacks, however, while they were not so much changed from the picnic, when she compared them to Ulquiorra and Grimmjow, Orihime had no problems deciding which of them she enjoyed spending time with.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Nell leaned around the tree saying earnestly, "Thank goodness I found you. Mrs. Tatlefront has come for Tisha."

Orihime surged to her feet and raced around the huge house not even bothering to slow her stride when she approached the parked carriage and the gathering of people in the driveway. Standing next to Mrs. Tatlefront were a young man and a young woman who turned out to be Tisha's older brother and sister, their names were Traydon and Tilya, who had just arrived home after a long stay in London.

Mrs. Tatlefront was saying in a cold, commanding voice, "I really can't thank you enough for all the kind attention you have shown towards Tisha these past few weeks, but I really would hate for her to impose upon your hospitality any more so I have come to take her home with me."

No one seemed to notice Orihime's ungraceful entrance, so it gave her time to look for Tisha and her gaze soon landed on the poor girl standing in the same attitude that she had on the first occasion Orihime had met her. Upon closer inspection, Orihime's heart almost stopped when she discovered something she had never seen before displayed in Tisha's eyes: a look of unreserved terror. Making her way over to Tisha, Orihime noticed that Tisha was not paying attention to anything else going on around her as her focus was on one person. When Orihime traced Tisha's line of vision, she discovered that Tisha was staring almost unblinkingly at Traydon and Tilya. Shifting her gaze to where the two previously unknown siblings stood, she noticed that they looked bored and impatient whenever they looked around, but when their eyes fell on Tisha, her siblings gave her meaningful and reproachful looks.

Orihime's attention was arrested when her Uncle Sirik replied, "Tisha has been most welcome here and I would not mind in the least if she wished to extend her stay, but I will not separate a family any longer than is necessary when they have already been apart from one another for such a long time."

Mrs. Tatlefront made a reply, but Orihime could only see Traydon and Tilya sending Tisha brief but very meaningful smiles, while Tisha began to tremble in response. Something inside of Orihime snapped and she stepped forward in front of Tisha like a shield.

"Pardon me, Uncle Sirik," said Orihime firmly, "I do understand your wish to reunite the Tatlefront family, but this seems too sudden. I doubt the servants can pack all Tisha's things quickly enough to have them on the road in order to reach their home at a decent hour tonight. Would it be all right-"

Mrs. Tatlefront interrupted Orihime saying, "No, we will not wait to take Tisha home more than two minutes in which time at least her essentials may be packed. Anything else can be sent along at any time when it is convenient for you, Mr. Esada."

Orihime asked, "So after all the kindness she has received here, she is simply to be whisked away with barely any time to bid us goodbye?"

Before Mrs. Tatlefront could respond, the sound of approaching horses caught everyone's attention and they all turned to see a party of five consisting of Mr. Karci, his sisters, Mr. Crandon and Mr. Jacks riding up on horseback.

The horses were stopped not far from the carriage and Mr. Karci made a bow in their direction as he said, "I'm sorry, we seemed to have interrupted something very important."

Mr. Esada waved his hand saying, "Oh no, Mrs. Tatlefront has only come to collect Tisha and take her home today."

Mr. Karci leaned back in his saddle saying, "I'm very sorry to hear that since we were coming to invite Ms. Inoue, Ms. Tisha, Ms. Esada and Ms. Lily to come on a ride with us along some paths which Mr. Crandon discovered not too long ago."

His gaze fell upon Traydon and his sister and Mr. Karci said pleasantly enough, "Why hello there, Traydon. Just returned from London?"

Traydon nodded and said in a nasally voice, "Why yes, Iano. Fancy bumping into you out here of all places."

Mr. Karci shrugged his shoulders and said, "Where else would you expect to find me? Anyway, I'm very sorry to have intruded upon you all at this time. Perhaps we can arrange for an outing on another day."

While this dialogue had been exchanged, Tilya had been leaning close to her grandmother's ear and had been whispering furiously with her. They seemed to be having a heated discussion until finally Mrs. Tatlefront nodded her head once and turned to Mr. Karci.

"I had been planning on heading home directly, but with your invitation being so graciously given, I cannot refuse my grandchild the pleasure of spending time in your company one more time, Mr. Karci."

Mr. Karci's eyes filled with understanding and he seemed to steel himself as he said graciously, "While we don't have enough horses at present, I'm sure we can manage to include Traydon and Tilya into the party, if that is all right with you."

Mrs. Tatlefront nodded and said, "That would be most agreeable."

And so, less than a half hour later, the riding party set out from the Esada residence with Mr. and Mrs. Esada and Sima remaining behind to entertain Mrs. Tatlefront with everyone but Tisha and Tilya having their own horses. At first Traydon had volunteered to ride with Tisha sitting in front of him and Orihime had been very grateful that Mr. Crandon had stepped in and said that his horse was probably better suited for two passengers than Traydon's borrowed mount and so Tisha was comfortably settled with Mr. Crandon, while Mr. Karci had offered to take Tilya, a request which she immediately accepted.

Not that she paid much attention since her focus was on other things, but when it came to riding, Orihime, who had never done such a thing in her life, took to it very naturally, for whatever reason. The time it took to travel was probably about half an hour, but for Orihime whose attention was torn between keeping an eye on Traydon, Tisha, Tilya and for reasons that she could not fully explain, Mr. Karci, the ride seemed to take hours and hours before they finally arrived at a good sized river. Everyone dismounted and the horses were led to the water for refreshment and everyone else began lounging around and chatting amicably with one another.

Orihime immediately made her way over to Tisha, patted her shoulder in a reassuring and protective gesture before she linked their arms together and led Tisha away to a comfortable spot close to the river.

Putting her arm around Tisha's shoulders, Orihime said softly, "Oh Tisha, I'm so sorry that I can't do any more than this. I wish I could keep them from taking you away. Even though I have no idea what all went on between you and your siblings, I am positive that they did something terrible to you and you have not been able to tell anyone about it ever since because of your terror."

Feeling the full weight of the situation pulling her spirit down, Orihime's eyes began to fill as the familiar feeling of helplessness to help someone she cared deeply about sprang up once again after such a long time. There had only been two other times in her life when she had felt this scared of being unable to do anything, the first when her brother had died without her being able to apologize and the other when she had been unable to heal Ichigo the second time that Ulquiorra had killed him right in front of her eyes. Now her heart told her that if she allowed Tisha to go away with her family that the girl would fade away into nonexistence once again until she finally gave up altogether in her despair. Orihime could not let that happen and yet she was completely incapable of doing anything to stop the inevitable. Tisha seemed to sense Orihime's despair and laid her head against Orihime's shoulder in defeat.

A soft, menacing voice at the back of her neck caused Orihime to violently start when it said, "Well, well, what have we here?"

She did not turn her head to meet the cold gaze as she replied, "What do you want, Mr. Tatlefront?"

Traydon Tatlefront spoke in an oily tone as he replied, "You confound me, Ms. Inoue. Why in the world would someone of your beauty and wealth, deign to show my useless younger sister such acts of forced kindness? It's quite cruel, you know, to do that to someone like Tisha since we both know that you are only being nice to her to get onto the good side of Mr. Karci and the other wealthy men around here. Why keep up the act anymore?"

Orihime slowly stood and faced Mr. Tatlefront as she replied, "Why don't you stop trying to act like you care about Tisha's wellbeing? Never in my entire life have I ever been accused of falsely showing someone affection and yet here you stand insinuating that you are someone who actually has Tisha's best interest at heart while I am only using her for my own ends."

Mr. Tatlefront waved his hand in Tisha's direction and said, "Let Tisha prove that I'm wrong. If you really are someone who cares about Tisha, then let her use her own voice to prove me wrong."

At Mr. Tatlefront's smug expression, Orihime felt her already strained patience all but snap as she said, "You will cease taunting Tisha in such a manner and putting her on the spot to deal with such a petty matter. Even if she never speaks another word for the rest of her life, which you will never be able to convince me that you didn't have some part in making happen, you and I will both know who truly cares for Tisha and that's good enough for me."

"But not for me."

Both Orihime and Mr. Tatlefront jumped slightly even though the voice had been barely a whisper. Tisha's voice was fairly rusty from lack of use over the years, but it was husky in a soft, feminine way.

Tisha's gaze was downcast, but her voice was mostly steady as she continued slowly, "I thought when you and Tilya left two years ago that I would finally be free to speak my mind. But all those habits of thinking that no one would want to hear my stupid thoughts was so instilled in my personality that I couldn't force words past my lips. If you and Tilya had tortured me physically and beaten me every day, it would have done less damage then what you actually did. Making me believe that I was useless and worthless by ignoring me when I was around and then when I tried to say something picking out my every flaw was more painful than Grandmother's rebukes about my inerrant behavior."

Raising her eyes, Tisha continued, "Ms. Inoue has never once been anything but kind to me, even when the only forms of gratitude and friendship I could offer were small smiles and a listening ear. She has confided in me and accepted me despite the fact that I have yet to thank her properly. She means more to me than…anything. You and Tilya and Grandmother are nothing to me as I am nothing to you."

Orihime threw her arms around Tisha's neck saying, "Oh, Tisha! Tisha! You don't know how long I've wished to hear you speak!"

Before she could say anymore, Orihime's intuition told her that Tisha was in danger and so she firmly pushed the girl away from her as she suddenly felt a pair of strong hands push her from behind towards the river.

She never heard the cries of concern and outrage directed at both her and Mr. Tatlefront as her head cracked against a large rock just under the surface of the river.


	19. Flickers of realization

The Common Thread: Part 19

"I swear if I ever see that creep again, he'll walk away with about half his teeth lying on the ground and the other half finding out what his gut looks like from the inside."

"Yes, Keigo. You've told us already."

"No, I'm serious guys! Creeps like that make Aizen look like a saint. I really shouldn't have let him off so easy. Why didn't you let me wail on the guy like I wanted too?"

"Apparently, we should have let you so that we wouldn't have to suffer through this conversation for the hundredth time."

"More like thousandth."

"You don't seem to grasp the gravity of the situation!"

"Door, Keigo."

"That's not important right now! Why can't you see-"

"We do see the door, Keigo! Turn around!"

"What?"

Clang. Flop.

Groaning voice, "Owie."

Uryu closed his eyes and pushed up his glasses as he stepped delicately over the prone figure of Keigo saying drolly, "Clean up on aisle three."

Mizuiro was the only to actually pause for a moment and ask Keigo, "How do you manage it?" before he too followed Uryu, Ichigo and Chad down the hallways of Karakura Hospital.

Ichigo couldn't remember a time when he had slept less than last night. Every time he closed his eyes, the scene of Orihime's accident replayed in his mind's eye or sometimes memories of his fights with Grimmjow, Ulquiorra and the other Arrancars would cause him to toss and turn in anxiety and irritation over his lack of control in this situation.

He was a warrior and a protector. Those were the two roles he had grown up filling for his sisters, then his friends and now his fighting skills had no effect over the situation and he had failed Orihime by not protecting her. Despite the fact that everything had happened too fast and that he had been too far behind Tatsuki and Orihime to prevent anything, he mentally kicked himself for not reacting as soon as he had seen the purse-snatcher charging headlong towards the girls. If he had simply run rather than standing dumbstruck at the absurdity of the situation, Tatsuki might have just scolded him for thinking that she couldn't handle things on her own rather than staying in Orihime's hospital room like a ghost haunting the unconscious girl. Also, obviously if he had reacted like he should have, Orihime wouldn't be in the hospital at all.

They arrived at the room and no one was surprised to see Tatsuki sitting listlessly next to Orihime's side, absentmindedly massaging the girl's still and smooth hand between her own calloused hands.

Ever the one to break the uncomfortable silence, Mizuiro walked over to the window carrying a small bouquet of flowers and saying, "So Tatsuki, any change since yesterday?"

Tatsuki did not remove her eyes from Orihime's face as she responded, "The same."

Mizuiro nodded his head as he began arranging the flowers into a small, rather cheap plastic vase that he had brought along to put the flowers in and said pleasantly, "Well, that's only to be expected for a little while since she was hit rather hard."

The rest of the group involuntarily took a wary breath waiting for Tatsuki's reaction when Mizuiro smoothly went on, "If I had to guess, you haven't left this hospital all night, so I brought a bit of food with me in case you were hungry."

Before Tatsuki could refuse, Chad said quietly, "Don't make Orihime worry when she wakes up, Tatsuki."

Tatsuki paused for a moment before she moved her head very slightly showed her agreement with the request, so Mizuiro handed over the food willingly and Tatsuki put the food in her lap so she could eat next to Orihime. Tatsuki ate as a matter of course, not because she relished the food and it made Ichigo's heart lurch to see the change in his usually confidant, somewhat brazen yet loyal friend reduced to this state. Not even when Orihime had gone to Hueco Mundo had he seen Tatsuki so…defeated. She acted as if her very soul had been cut away from her when Orihime was hit and it wasn't far from the truth. Ichigo knew Tatsuki was just as protective of Orihime as he was and had been there for Orihime long before he ever really knew Orihime existed.

Before Ichigo could sink any further into his depressed mood, he suddenly felt a firm hand grasp his arm and an annoyed voice whispering in his ear, "Come on."

Without thinking, Ichigo automatically followed Uryu out into the hall, down some corridors and into a corner of the hospital wing where it seemed they could talk privately. Before Ichigo had a chance to say anything Uryu's fist suddenly connected with the left side of his jaw, sending Ichigo reeling back until he struck the other side of the wall.

He was about to yell at Uryu in annoyance when the other young man held up his hand saying, "Remember, we're in a hospital."

Ichigo checked his yell, went over to grasp the front of Uryu's shirt and said in a furious whisper, "What's the big idea, Uryu?"

Uryu replied in a cold, calm voice, "Do you really think you are the only one responsible for keeping Orihime safe and that you are the only one who feels guilty about what happened?"

Ichigo blinked in confusion and said, "What?"

With one hand Uryu adjusted his glasses while with the other he pushed away Ichigo's loosened hands from his shirt as he replied, "You are selfish and more clueless than I thought if you believe that you are the only one who feels protective of Orihime besides Tatsuki. She is Chad's friend as well as my own and we have protected her just as often as you have."

Ichigo was suddenly struck with the memory of him waking up after Ulquiorra had killed him a second time. He had no remembrance of what he had done while he was unconscious, but it must have been terrible since when he had woken up Ulquiorra was dying, Uryu was even more seriously wounded than before and countless tear streaks could be seen covering Orihime's face. He knew his hollow had probably taken over, but it must have been a completely different transformation than before to have caused so much damage. The only things Uryu had revealed to him (Ichigo had refused to ask Orihime since he didn't want her to have to relive that experience any more than was necessary) were that Ichigo had seemed to turn into a full-fledged Arrancar capable of producing a cero and that he had still retained some of his humanity as Ichigo's hollow side had assured Orihime that he would protect her.

Ichigo was once again snapped out of his depressed thoughts when Uryu's fist connected with the right side of his jaw. Stumbling back a few steps, Ichigo barely remembered to restrain himself from screaming at Uryu to knock it off.

Instead, Ichigo had to settle for a loud whisper, "Will you stop that?"

Uryu glared at him as he responded, "Stop thinking about Hueco Mundo then."

Ichigo protested, "I was not!"

Uryu rolled his eyes, "Yes, you were. I could tell because you were tracing a circle about where the hole that Ulquiorra blew through your chest was both times he apparently killed you."

Ichigo faltered for a moment before trying a different tactic, "Well, if you're such an expert, tell me how I should react to all of this! I failed her when the Arrancars first came to Karakura, I was too late to keep her from going with them, I terrified her with my transformations first when I fought with Grimmjow and then later when I don't even know what I did to Ulquiorra or to you for that matter and now she's lying unconscious in a hospital bed because I didn't react quickly enough to the situation! So you tell me how I should feel!"

Uryu retaliated by saying, "I'm not saying you shouldn't feel some remorse over the situation because yes, you could have been there for her but didn't move quickly enough. I'm just telling you to stop acting as if you are the only one who should feel guilty and ignoring the fact that the rest of us feel just as guilty as you over what happened. You aren't the only one who has promised to protect Orihime."

The last part caused Ichigo to take a step back and look at Uryu with a perplexed expression, to which Uryu sighed and replied, "You know that Tatsuki saved Orihime from bullies at school not long before she lost her brother in the accident."

Ichigo shook his head before he blinked and asked, "Wait a minute, Orihime was bullied? What did they do to her?"

Uryu threw up his hands in despair as he said, "For Heaven's sake, Ichigo! You are completely clueless! You need everything spelled out for you! I didn't even go to school with you all back then and I know the details of this story!"

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Uryu asked Ichigo, "Do you remember what Orihime looked like when she came to your father's clinic with her brother?"

Ichigo thought hard as he tried to extract the memory before he said slowly, "Not really. I think she had on some sort of school uniform and she was really panicked. She was crying. That's about all I remember."

Uryu adjusted his glasses as he asked, "Do you remember her hair?"

Ichigo blinked and said, "Her hair? Why would I remember her hair?"

Uryu sighed as he explained, "Orihime has always kept her hair long since she and her brother thought her hair was so beautiful since it was an unusual color. Not long before her brother's accident, some of Orihime's classmates were cruel and forcefully cut her hair after school let out for the day and none of the teachers were around to help Orihime. If I remember Tatsuki's account correctly, they also hit Orihime's face a couple of times for good measure, leaving some bruises that Orihime was forced to cover up to keep her brother from worrying."

Ichigo asked in a confused voice, "Her classmates were jealous of Orihime's hair? How does that make sense?"

Uryu threw up his hands once again before he said, "Ichigo, when it comes to people being cruel to others, the only excuse they need is that the person they are being unkind too is different from them in some way. You have talked about how your hair got you into trouble over the years, so why is it so surprising to you that Orihime might have gone through the same thing when she was younger?"

Ichigo shook his head, "No, it doesn't make sense because no one could hate Orihime."

Uryu adjusted his glasses as he replied, "Well, after Tatsuki stood up for Orihime and became her friend and protector, it's no wonder that people left Orihime alone after that. In time, Orihime's sweet and caring personality won over pretty much everyone in the school and her astonishing good looks only helped to enhance her popularity. I doubt, though, that Orihime would have turned out so confidant if Tatsuki had not been there to help her out that day Orihime was being mercilessly bullied. I'm not saying that Orihime is weak, by any means. She is a resilient girl and has never once lost her optimism no matter how many times someone has been unkind or downright cruel to her. However, you know as well as I that Orihime would be reluctant to hurt anyone even if she were on the verge of death if they were only trying to hurt her alone."

Ichigo nodded and said, "I was bothered by the fact that Orihime didn't use her shield to protect herself from the car when she could have easily done so, until I thought about all the times that she could have protected herself from harm but didn't because I or someone else needed her."

Uryu began walking back in the direction of Orihime's room as he said, "Now you're starting to understand."

Suddenly, Uryu turned around and pointed a long finger into Ichigo's face as he said, "So don't ever fall back into the mistake of thinking that you are the only one who cares about what happens to Orihime or any of our other friends for that matter. I would have thought you would have understood that point by now, but apparently, you need everything spelled out for you in black and white before you begin to show any signs of catching on to what's really going on."

Ichigo pushed Uryu's hand away as he began walking down the hall and saying, "Yeah, yeah, I got it already. Will you get off my back?"

When he arrived back at Orihime's room, Ichigo had resolved to stop feeling so helpless and useless. The feelings really didn't suit him and Uryu was right when he said that Orihime was not just important to Ichigo. For some reason, Ichigo's mind drifted back to when the paramedic had asked Ichigo if Orihime was his girlfriend and he had replied that she was his friend. Now he was left to wonder: just what kind of a relationship did he have with Orihime and why did he feel that it wasn't good enough?


	20. How to hit your head twice in one day

The Common Thread: Part 20

A delightful feeling of being completely weightless was the first sensation that Orihime felt moments before she opened her eyes. She felt at peace, like nothing in the world could bother her and there was no headache or pain in her head. This last thought caused her to feel slightly confused and bewildered for a few moments as she tried to remember why she was expecting her head to hurt. After a few moments, Orihime suddenly remembered being pushed by Traydon Tatlefront into the river and how she had hit her head and this realization caused her to panic and jerk her body awake. Her head connected with something very solid and unyielding causing the before absent pain in her head to suddenly appear.

Orihime rubbed her head ruefully as she groaned, "Owww," before a very familiar voice suddenly barked at her and caused Orihime to jump again.

"For goodness sake, Orihime! How many times have I told you to strap yourself in at night? One of these days you're going to float right out of the room to who knows where and get yourself in a real pickle, then where will you be?"

Upon hearing Tatsuki's voice, Orihime had turned and promptly hit the other side of her head against something else, causing Orihime to clasp both sides of her head as she replied, "I don't know. Somewhere bad?"

The girl who looked like Tatsuki had been strapped into an upright bed, but was now free since she had been releasing herself during her lecturing and was now floating in Orihime's direction shaking her head and saying, "With your luck, you'd wind up drifting into the men's barracks or the engine room and I don't know which would be worse."

Orihime's head drooped as she said dejectedly, "I'm sorry."

The Tatsuki look-alike let out a deep sigh before gently tapping her left fist against Orihime's chin saying, "I can never stay mad at you for long, Orihime, you know that. Just try to remember tonight, ok?"

Orihime smiled and said, "Ok," even though later Orihime would think back and consider that she really hadn't understood at the time what was going on, only that her best friend had asked something of her and Orihime had decided to comply.

Before they could say anything else, a bell suddenly went off and a girl who reminded Orihime of Hiyori stuck her head into the room and said, "Hey, Orihime, Tyzuki! Better get a move on!"

Tyzuki made a noise of impatience and said, "Yeah, yeah, Hikichi! We know!"

Less than a minute later, Orihime was sprinting after Tyzuki wearing a one piece uniform of some kind and trying to get used to walking in the artificial gravity boots she had on. They passed a large amount of people in the hallways, all of them in just as big of a hurry as Tyzuki was and Orihime could only hope that they were making their way towards some sort of dining hall as she was absolutely starving. Unfortunately, it was not to be and Tyzuki led Orihime into a kind of classroom with all the desks but two already occupied. The desks were not next to each other, so Orihime went in the opposite direction from Tyzuki towards what she assumed was her own desk. Not five seconds after Orihime had taken her seat, a person whom Orihime guessed was the teacher meandered into the room. It took her a few moments to realize that the teacher looked exactly like the Vizard Hachigen, also known as 'Hachi', and Orihime felt herself relax as she had found another familiar friend. Granted, she would have to be extra polite as he was her teacher, but from the kind look on his face, Orihime could tell that this version of Hachi was just as kind as the original.

"Good morning class," he said with a wide smile.

"Good morning, Mr. Hromi," was the students' automatic response.

"Today we are going to begin with our historical lecture right where we left off in the 21st century. You will be pleased to know that I have been able to acquire several items from that century which we will be able to use and experiment with to get a better idea of what life was like back then," was the beginning of Mr. Hromi's lecture.

From that point on, Orihime was at a loss to understand why all of the students looked at each of the items Mr. Hromi had brought in as if they had never seen anything like them before. The items were a cell phone, a deck of playing cards, a gaming console, a series of books entitled "The Williamson Chronicles", a couple of CD's and a movie poster for a romantic comedy called "The Charm Bracelet". When Mr. Hromi attempted to turn on the cell phone, Orihime was confused to see him speak to it, telling it to turn itself on. Looking around her, Orihime saw that all of the students seemed to think that Mr. Hromi's method was the correct one and couldn't seem to understand why the cell phone refused to turn on. She finally raised her hand tentatively and Mr. Hromi looked at her curiously.

"Yes, Orihime?" Mr. Hromi asked her.

Orihime tried to force her blood to stay away from her face as she answered, "Excuse me, Mr. Hromi, but I know how to turn on the phone, if you would let me."

Mr. Hromi nodded slowly at first until finally he shrugged his shoulders and waved Orihime forward as he said, "Why not, why not. Give a whirl, Orihime. Just be careful and remember that these need to be returned in prime condition."

Orihime timidly accepted the cell phone from her teacher, flipped the phone open and held down the button showing the green symbol of an old-fashioned phone. After about five seconds, the cell phone turned on with a series of beeps and dings in a kind of song and Orihime jumped when the sound of a couple dozen bodies leaning forward in their desks reached her ears.

Mr. Hromi looked at Orihime in amazement with his mouth hanging open for a few moments before he recovered himself, turned to the class and said, "Well, well. It seems Orihime has done her homework on how to use these antiques."

Turning to Orihime once again, Mr. Hromi said, "Thank you, Orihime, for your help. Would you happen to know anything about these other items that I have here?"

Orihime took a deep breath to steady her nerves before she smiled and nodded her head, to which Mr. Hromi laughed and gestured to the carefully arranged items saying, "Please, enlighten us, Orihime."

Picking up the playing cards, Orihime asked, softly, "Does anyone know how to play Go Fish?"

Everyone gave her blank stares and Orihime asked, "Ummm…well…would anyone be willing to help me out? Please?"

To Orihime's relief, Tyzuki was the first volunteer and two boys resembling Orihime's classmates Keigo and Mizuiro were the other two to offer their help and so Orihime went about explaining the rules to everyone. As she became more comfortable with everyone looking on in fascination, Orihime's voice and manner became more confidant and natural as she taught everyone how to play Go Fish.

After the game came to a close with Orihime winning the game, she went on to talk about the gaming console. While she had never really had much experience with playing on it herself, she had seen enough to know the basics. Unfortunately, the explanation would have gone more smoothly if she had been able to actually plug the gaming console in and actually use it, but overall everyone seemed to understand how the thing worked. As for the poster and CD's, those were pretty self-explanatory and Orihime didn't need to spend much time talking about them. Much to her surprise, the class and Mr. Hromi were the most fascinated when she brought the books out of their holding case and opened one to show the print on the inside.

One student raised their hand and asked, "So, you have to turn the pages yourself?"

Orihime nodded and said, "Yes."

Another student asked, "Well, if there is no computer to remember where you stopped, what would you do if you didn't remember what page you stopped at?"

Orihime replied, "A bookmark."

They all looked at each other in confusion before one of the students finally spoke up and asked, "You mean they made marks in their books where they stopped?"

Orihime was taken aback for a moment before she shook her head and said, "No, no. A bookmark was an object that you could either buy at a bookstore or make yourself out of paper to stick in between the pages that you were on when you had to stop reading for whatever reason."

Mr. Hromi clapped his hands saying, "Wonderful, Orihime! Absolutely splendid! Your explanations are absolutely astonishing and thorough."

Turning to the class, Mr. Hromi said, "Well, that's all the time we have for today. Complete Module 27 as homework for next time."

Tyzuki sidled up next to Orihime as they went out of the classroom saying, "Well, well, well. Where did all that first-hand knowledge come from? You were an expert at explaining to Kio, Mio and me how to play that card game. Where did you learn it in the first place?"

Before Orihime had a chance to answer, she suddenly ran into something very solid and was knocked backwards onto the floor. Cracking the side of her head against the ground, Orihime lay dazed as she heard Tyzuki yelling at someone and an all too familiar voice answering. Before she knew what had happened, she felt a pair of strong arms scoop her from the floor and hold her firmly yet gently against a chest that she knew from previous encounters recently. As she closed her eyes, Orihime began to wonder how this Ichigo would act around her and how she would react around him.

**Author's Note:**

And thus begins another lifetime with yet another set of characters I had fun playing around with.

Idino-Ichigo

Tyzuki-Tatsuki

Kio-Keigo

Mio-Mizuiro

Mr. Hromi-Hachi

Milly-Menoly


	21. Recovering from the blows

The Common Thread: Part 21

"Why can't you watch where you're going?"

"Hey! I said I was sorry! What more do you want from me?"

"Don't say sorry to me, you idiot! I'm not the one you knocked over and probably gave brain damage too!"

"What'd you do this time, Idino?"

"None of your business, Kio!"

"Hey! What happened to Orihime?"

"Idino plowed her over."

"I did not! It was an accident!"

Orihime's head was already spinning from the knock against the floor mere seconds earlier and as Idino quickly made his way through the halls, unfortunately, the movement was doing nothing to help Orihime's muddled senses right themselves. Unconsciously, Orihime raised her left hand to cover her forehead to try and somehow brush the dizziness away. The movement of Orihime's hand caught Idino's attention and he suddenly stopped charging down the hallway.

Ignoring the group of people staring at him, Idino asked Orihime softly, "Hey, are you all right?"

Orihime rubbed her forehead and said faintly, "I think I'll be all right in a moment now that you've stopped moving."

Opening her eyes slightly, Orihime's gaze met the familiar concerned look from Idino's warm brown eyes and she gave him a small smile as she said, "You don't have to worry about me. If there's a chair or something nearby, I'll just sit for a moment and I should be ready to go in no time at all."

"Are you sure?" asked Idino before he said, "We aren't that far from the nurse's station…"

His voice trailed off and Orihime's smile widened as she said, "Oh, it's just a little bump on the head. Don't worry about it."

At Idino's skeptical look, Orihime went on hesitantly, "I'm probably more lightheaded than I should be since I didn't eat anything all morning, but I'll be-"

Before she got any further, Idino walked swiftly into an empty classroom, deposited Orihime gently in a desk and said, "Don't move," before he walked away.

Tyzuki sat down next to Orihime and said, "Idino may look and act like the world's biggest jerk, but every once in a while the makings of a knight in shining armor peeps through the cracks in his personality."

Orihime's response was to bury her face in her arms and groan, "Why didn't I look where I was going? This whole mess is my fault and poor Idino is having to bend over backwards just to make sure that I'm ok."

Tyzuki punched Orihime lightly on the arm saying, "C'mon, cut yourself some slack. He wasn't paying attention either and you're the one who actually got hurt, so he's just doing the right thing. Don't worry about it."

Kio and Mio had been watching the whole scene unfold with widening grins and suddenly Kio spoke up, "I don't think I've ever seen Idino go to such lengths before with any girl. You must have really caught his eye, Orihime."

Orihime looked up at them startled, but before she could reply, Idino came back into the room carrying a juice box and a bag of crackers.

Placing them in front of Orihime, Idino said, "Sorry, this was the best I could find. I hope it's enough."

Orihime blushed and smiled as she said, "This is perfect, thank you. I'm really sorry that you had to go to so much trouble on my account."

Idino ran a hand through his hair as he said, "Don't worry about it. It was partially my fault too. Anyway, you'd better eat fast so we can get to our next class."

Orihime stood up and said, "I'll eat as we go."

For the next few hours, Orihime did her best to focus on the lectures and not on a certain head of bright orange hair sitting in front of her in every class. It would be just her luck that Idino would now have the same class schedule as her so that every two minutes, Orihime's thoughts drifted to just how kind, gentle and attentive Idino had been. When she compared Idino with Mr. Karci and Irodonio, she had to admit that the young man sitting within her sight reminded her the most of Ichigo in terms of personality and comportment, and her heart flip-flopped in her chest as she desperately wished that she could have made a better impression during their first meeting. True, he had probably known her before then a little, but it had been her first time meeting Idino and he had been forced to take care of her. How embarrassing…and yet…

At long last, the time came for lunch and Orihime could barely wait to see what kind of food they had in this space colony (she had gathered from the lectures that they were living in outer space somewhere near Neptune at this point and that the colony was named Genesis). As she walked down the halls chatting easily with Tyzuki, Orihime felt a sudden tap on the shoulder and turned to face a person who looked remarkably like Menoly.

The girl who looked like Menoly said cheerfully, "Hello Tyzuki and Orihime! How are you two today?"

Tyzuki replied, "We're fine, Milly. What's up?"

Milly replied, "Well, I was sent to tell you, Tyzuki, that your team meeting was moved so that you could meet during lunch period."

Tyzuki quickly said to Orihime, "I'm sorry, Orihime, I have to run. See you in class!"

Orihime waved to her friend as she all but sprinted down the hallway, then turned and said to Milly, "Well, do you have any plans for lunch today?"

Milly had been looking at Tyzuki's retreating figure and then seemed to hear what Orihime had asked and replied, "Actually, I do. However, there was something I wanted to talk to you about in private before I left."

Orihime asked, "You do?"

Milly said, "Yes. It looks like this classroom is open. Would you mind?"

Orihime shook her head and walked inside before she turned to meet Milly's gaze. Fortunately, the girl came right to the point.

"Are you the one who ran into Idino just after first period and who he carried around?"

Orihime blinked before she said, "Um…yes…Idino and I had a little accident and I knocked my head on the floor."

Milly closed her eyes before she continued, "Figures. Of course someone like you would force someone like Idino to carry them around while they played damsel in distress trying to catch his eye. I just thought I'd let you know right now that Idino doesn't fall for tricks like that, so you might as well give up now."

Orihime stood stunned for a moment before she said, "You should get your facts straight before you go around accusing people. It was an accident, plain and simple, and I would never do something so juvenile in order to catch a boy's eye. Personally, I think theatrics of that nature are stupid and pointless as well as worthless. Besides, I really don't understand how it's any of your business of Idino did carry me around. It was his decision to be nice, I never asked him to and it certainly doesn't affect or concern you."

Milly stepped forward as she said in a low voice, "Oh yes it does, because Idino is my boyfriend."


	22. Unexpected 'visitors'

The Common Thread: Part 22

"Phew! What a long day. I thought that last lecture would never end. Hey, you ok?"

Orihime forced her mind to come back to the present as she smiled and said, "Of course, Tyzuki."

Tyzuki gave Orihime a knowing look as she said, "Look, if you keep daydreaming about the guy you're going to have another accident. Seriously, I don't know what would become of you if I wasn't around to take care of you."

As if in response to Tyzuki's prediction, true to form as Orihime was about to respond, she ran into a solid object and started to fall until two strong hands reached out and caught her arms to prevent her from hitting the floor. Orihime closed her eyes for a brief moment to steel her nerves before she looked up into a pair of concerned and amused brown eyes.

Idino's mouth curved up slightly at the corners as he said, "Well, when it rains it pours, I suppose."

Orihime gave a small sigh as she responded, "Thank you very much for your assistance. I promise that I'm not doing this on purpose and I'm sorry for being such a bother. Please excuse me."

As she attempted to walk around Idino, Orihime found her progress interrupted by a firm, yet gentle, hand grasping her elbow and Idino's voice saying, "Are you ok? You don't seem like yourself, Orihime."

Orihime turned with a bright smile that didn't quite reach her eyes as she looked anywhere but into Idino's own steady gaze and said, "I'm perfectly fine. This is the second time today that you've valiantly helped me after I've bumped into you and you've been nothing but a gentleman both times, so thank you. I really need to go, though. C'mon Tyzuki."

Before anyone could say anything else, Orihime turned and quickly started moving away from Idino, Kio and Mio, who had been walking with Idino, while Tyzuki caught up with Orihime.

Ever since her conversation with Milly, Orihime had not been able to concentrate on anything. Fortunately, after lunch (which she had barely partaken of since she was so upset) Idino had only been in one more class with her at the very end of the day, so she had been able to keep her composure intact at least. Thoughts had been swirling in Orihime's head ever since Milly had revealed the nature of her relationship with Idino, first and foremost being "What did he see in her?" Orihime knew she was being unkind to a girl whom she barely knew and tried to put herself in the girl's shoes thinking that if she were Milly then she would probably be just as upset if she thought a girl was trying to seduce her boyfriend. However, as much as she tried to reason with herself about how Idino was his own person and probably loved Milly for the person she truly was rather than whom Orihime perceived her as, Orihime couldn't help but feel that Milly was not someone with whom Idino should have a relationship. Set aside the fact that Orihime had feelings for Idino who looked and acted like Ichigo, when Milly had confronted Orihime, Orihime had felt a kind of aura around the girl that was similar to how Mr. Karci was when Orihime had first met him, only colder and more self-centered. Orihime was brought back to her senses when a voice came over the sound system with an interesting announcement.

"All students are to report to their housing units immediately. Please make your way there quickly and efficiently."

Tyzuki whistled under her breath and said, "Well, that's certainly something you don't hear every day. Might as well get moving. I wonder what's going on."

Even though Orihime could sense that something was extremely wrong and dangerous about this situation, she decided that for the time being she would play along and simply said, "I have no idea. Hopefully, whatever it is will be sorted out before dinner since I'm absolutely famished."

Tyzuki rumpled Orihime's hair as she said, "You're always famished, Orihime. Why if I didn't know any better, I would say you have a hollow leg to help store some of that food."

As they walked down the halls, Orihime and Tyzuki talked easily, until Orihime came to a sudden stop as she sensed several presences in a nearby classroom. She wouldn't have been worried had it not been for the fact that she could also sense about two or three menacing presences making their way towards whoever was in the classroom. Sprinting away from Tyzuki while she followed asking Orihime what was going on, Orihime charged into the classroom and saw four students about ten to eleven years old huddled in a group and talking together.

Thinking that it would be a really bad idea to panic right now, Orihime ceased her running and calmly approached the four young students saying politely, "Hello there. How are you guys?"

One of the bigger boy students gave Orihime a look of defiance to mask his fear of being discovered, "What do you want?"

Thinking quickly, Orihime said, "I just wanted to be sure that all the classrooms were empty and I was also trying to locate something that I lost earlier. You haven't seen a small stuffed bear anywhere around here by chance?"

Tyzuki called from the doorway, "Hey kids! You're not supposed to be in here! Move your butts before I kick them in gear!"

Orihime turned and said, "Tyzuki! That's not very polite."

Turning back to the kids, Orihime said kindly, "She is right, though. We really should get moving."

The boy who had spoken earlier folded his arms and said, "Yeah right. You'll have to make me."

A smaller female student said pleadingly, "We should go, Bilian."

Bilian turned and said, "You guys can leave, but unless a teacher comes in and tells us to move, I'm staying right here."

Before Orihime could say anything else, she sensed the menacing presences right outside and about to make their way in where the students were, so she did the first thing that came into her head: she shoved the students away from the wall and grabbed up a chair.

Everyone's cries of protest quickly changed into panicked screams as a green creature made its way into the classroom via the wall. Orihime jabbed at the creature with the chair, trying to impede its progress into the room and the strategy worked for a few moments until it grabbed one of the legs and pushed Orihime away into the other desks. Without stopping to think, Orihime scrambled to her feet herding the frightened younger students in front of her out of the classroom and shut the door behind them. Once that was done, she now had time to think for a few moments about what to do next. Nothing was coming to mind.


	23. How to handle the 'visitors'

The Common Thread: Part 23

Fortunately for Orihime, as soon as the four younger students had exited the classroom, they had wasted no time in sprinting as fast as they possibly could in the direction of the dorms. Orihime could only hope that in their panic the young kids wouldn't incite other students to become overly anxious by relating to everyone exactly what they had seen crawling through the classroom wall. The last thing the adults and teachers (Orihime assumed that they were the ones attempting to control the situation) needed was all the students becoming hysterical and unmanageable in their panic. However, she was grateful that she no longer needed to worry about the safety of the four kids as she tried to think of how she was going to prevent the creatures from exiting the classroom and running loose around the space colony.

Tyzuki seemed to be taking things rather well as she said, "Well, we're up against E.T.'s that can climb through walls and aren't afraid of chairs. So now what?"

Orihime asked the first question that came to mind, "What are E.T.'s?"

Tyzuki gave Orihime an exasperated look as she explained, "Eirian-Takokujin, or E.T. for short. Basically aliens."

"Oh."

After a few moments of silence, Tyzuki asked again, "So, what's our plan?"

Orihime said in a musing tone, "I'm not sure just yet. We have some time since I can feel they are not interested in us at this point as they are too busy exploring the classroom. As soon as they are bored with that, they will come after us and try to access the rest of the colony."

"How do you know this?" asked Tyzuki.

"I don't understand it myself, but I just know. And when they come out, things are not going to be good for any of us."

"When who comes out?"

For the second time that day, Orihime closed her eyes in order to brace herself before she turned and met the all too familiar brown eyes of Idino. It came as no surprise to Orihime to discover that he was flanked by Kio and Mio, so she was hard pressed to understand why these boys' presences should leave her feeling so unsettled. However, they had appeared and they were all looking at her expectantly.

"The colony is being invaded upon by E.T.'s. There are three in the classroom right now."

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them and for some reason she knew exactly how each boy would react in the next few moments.

"Are you serious? Shouldn't we be running?" said Kio in a mildly panicked tone.

"Where are the teachers? Shouldn't they be taking care of this?" said Mio in a tone of slight concern.

"You mean you fought with them already? Did they hurt you?" said Idino, in a way that really reminded Orihime of Ichigo and yet was completely different than anything Ichigo would say.

Orihime responded with, "I am perfectly serious and I don't think we can outrun them at this point. I have no idea where the teachers are but I'm guessing that they are taking care of the majority of the E.T.'s somewhere around here. I didn't really fight with one, only kept it away from some students with a chair so they could escape and I'm perfectly all right."

Before anyone could say anything else, Orihime's instincts told her to move quickly so she pushed Tyzuki over with one hand while shoving Idino into Kio and Mio with the other. They all tumbled to the ground and avoided being hit by a school desk flying through the classroom door and knocking into the other wall. Before anyone could react, Orihime scrambled to her feet and ran over to a janitor's closet a little ways down the hall. Throwing open the door, Orihime's eyes searched frantically for anything useful or at least somewhat helpful against the E.T.'s. A long arm reached around her and grabbed some cleaning supplies off a shelf before shoving them into her arms and then snatching up a rather sturdy looking pole for some unknown use.

Orihime turned and briefly met Idino's eyes as he said, "I'll go for the ribcage with this, and you blast them in the eyes with that stuff."

Orihime nodded in understanding before she followed Idino back into the hall and towards the E.T.'s exiting the classroom. With a kind of battle cry, Idino started swinging the pole at the creatures and Orihime stopped for a moment to try and compose herself as she took in the sight. From what she understood about Ichigo, he had naturally taken to fighting with a sword as soon as he discovered he could change into a Soul Reaper. True he had needed to work hard to learn and refine new techniques, but he was a natural fighter through and through. Apparently, it was not the case with Idino. While his hits could be powerful and he did manage to hit the E.T.'s most of the time, it was rather like watching a monkey waving a stick in the face of a tiger.

Shoving those thoughts from her mind, Orihime raced over to the startled Tyzuki, shoved a number of bottles into the girl's arms before Orihime turned, opened a random bottle and sprayed it into the E.T.'s face. Whatever it was, the solution caused the E.T. to howl in pain and scratch at its eyes in an attempt to clear them while Idino took the opportunity to land a few more blows before moving on to the next E.T. coming out of the classroom.

Upon seeing their companion in pain, the other two E.T.'s began to hiss in a very menacing manner before moving to either side of the hallway. This way Idino would have to choose which one to fend off while the other would be free to attack him from behind. At least, that would have been the case had not Orihime snatched two more bottles away from Tyzuki and run over to protect Idino's back.

"Got any good ideas?" Idino asked Orihime as he warily watched the E.T. making its way towards him.

Shaking her head ruefully, Orihime replied, "Not really. Do you?"

Idino shrugged his shoulders and then called to the others, "Hey, Kio, Mio and Tyzuki! Why don't you make yourselves useful and go get help or something?"

Tyzuki snapped out of her stupor and began berating Idino, "Hey! Who do you think you are giving me orders? Why don't I take that pole from you and you go get help?"

Orihime said softly, "Tyzuki, you're probably a faster runner than Idino and you know how to stay calm in a desperate situation. Please, go get help."

There were a few moments of silence, before Tyzuki huffed, "I don't like this and I'm not following your orders Idino. I'm just helping Orihime. The E.T.'s can carry you off into space for all I care."

"Yeah, whatever. Just get going, would you?"

Before Tyzuki could retort, Kio and Mio quickly started urging her down the hallway at a desperate run. Now that Orihime could fully concentrate on the matters at hand, two thoughts kept running through her head. The first was that she hoped that whatever cleaning solution she had left would be as effective as the first bottle she had used. The second was that she had to stop focusing on how nice it felt to be standing back to back with Idino.


	24. How to finish off the 'visitors'

The Common Thread: Part 24

"Ready…hold on…switch!"

Orihime quickly reversed positions with Idino and blasted the oncoming E.T. with a generous dose of cleaning solution. She still had no idea what any of the products were supposed to be used for, but whatever they were, they were tough on stains and on an E.T.'s face. Unfortunately, she was almost out. On the other hand, Idino seemed to be getting the hang of using the metal pole to better effect and more of his blows actually did some damage. The only problem they seemed to be facing now was that the anguished cries of their comrades had attracted more E.T.'s from other areas. At this point, Orihime and Idino were only trying to fend off about four E.T.'s, but Orihime could sense more coming their way quickly.

"We need to find somewhere safe to hide for a minute, so we can come up with a better strategy."

Idino grunted as he landed another powerful blow before he said, "I'd love to take a break, but I don't see how that's going to happen any time soon. There are too many of them. Why don't yo-"

Orihime cut him off as she said, "Don't even think about asking me to run for it and leave you behind. You're getting better but you're not that good at fighting just yet."

Idino sighed as he asked, "Well then, Miss-Know-It-All, what do we do now?"

Orihime rolled her eyes as she replied, "I'm not entirely used to this role of coming up with all the plans, so just give me a minute."

Idino kept the banter going by saying, "Well, whenever you're ready, Princess, us common folks would love to know what our plan of attack will be."

Orihime was about to reply when she noticed something. The E.T.'s were highly vicious, but were about two heads shorter than herself. Looking around, she saw that there were fairly tall lockers and that it seemed that the E.T.'s were unable to climb up them. If she could somehow give them a big enough opening…

"Idino! Pass me your pipe!"

"What are yo-"

"Please! Just do it and follow me!"

Fortunately, Idino made no further protests and simply passed her the pipe. Once she had it, she grabbed Idino's hand and quickly ran over to the lockers.

Brandishing the pipe, Orihime said to Idino, "Now, would you please give me a boost?"

Idino seemed to catch onto her plan and quickly grabbed her around the legs to lift her high enough to grasp the top of the lockers. As she was being lifted, Orihime swung the pipe with one hand in order to fend off the more bold E.T.'s away from Idino's back. Once she was atop the lockers as she was about the reach down and help Idino up, he gave a mighty leap, grasped the top of the lockers and pulled himself up. There wasn't a whole lot of space, but there was enough for them to be able to sit up without bumping their heads against the ceiling.

After leaning over to make sure that the E.T.'s couldn't follow them up the lockers, Idino flopped over onto his back and said, "Phew! I thought my arms were going to give out for sure if I couldn't get a break soon. These creatures are definitely not very bright, but every time I hit them it was like hitting a cement wall."

Orihime couldn't help but grin as she said, "What would Milly say if she could see her big, strong, capable boyfriend being completely wiped out after such a short battle with only a few E.T.'s?"

Idino raised himself on his elbows and began indignantly, "Hey! Those E.T.'s have some tough skin and there were definitely more tha-"

He stopped abruptly and looked confused for a moment before he asked, "Wait a minute, what did you just say?"

Orihime gave him a perplexed look before saying, "About what?"

"Did you just say I was Milly's boyfriend?"

Orihime nodded as she said, "She told me earlier that you two were a couple."

Idino gaped at her for a moment before scratching his head in an irritated manner, "Oh, for crying out loud! That girl really needs to get a clue!"

Now it was Orihime's turn to be immensely confused as she asked, "So, you two aren't a couple?"

Idino looked away as he replied, "Not for the past five months or so. Our relationship didn't really last that long, and I mostly did it to keep this creepy jerk of an ex-boyfriend to stay away from her. Not to say that she's a bad person, she's just clingy."

Orihime felt slightly guilty at the wave of relief that washed over her when he said those words as she replied, "Well, I'm sorry for becoming involved in your business."

Idino looked at her quizzically as he said, "It's not like the whole thing was kept completely private, so I'm kind of surprised that you didn't hear about it sooner. Not that I really blame you for needing an explanation."

A thought seemed to strike Idino and he asked, "Just out of curiosity, why did Milly say that we were still dating?"

Orihime blushed and turned away as she replied, "Oh, I'm not really sure, she pulled me aside to have a conversation with me but I don't really remember what we talked about."

Idino's eyes took on a knowing look as he said, "She must have heard the story of how I knocked you over then carried you almost half-way around the colony and Milly probably misconstrued the whole thing thinking that you were trying to seduce me. Am I right?"

Despite Orihime's desire to tell Idino anything but the truth, her honest nature burst forth and she whispered, "That just about says it all."

Idino laid back and laced his hands behind his head as he said, "Well, I guess she did have a fairly valid reason to be jealous."

Orihime looked at him in confusion as he went on, "I'm not usually good at putting my emotions into words. Actually, I usually think that kind of emotional dribble is just a bunch of nonsense."

Orihime was hard pressed not to burst out laughing at the memories that last sentence brought up as Idino continued, "However, I have noticed you a little before today and thought you seemed like a really nice person, but I've seen a whole other side of you in the past few hours. You intrigue me, Orihime. And if it's all right with you, I'd like to hang out with you more often to get to know you better."

Orihime was shocked at this confession and was not sure how to respond. It was not a confession of love, but it was certainly asking for the possibility of something more than friendship. As with her three proposals of marriage, Orihime had no idea how to act in this situation, so she simply said the first thing that came to her mind, hoping that it would be fine.

"I think I would like that."

While she couldn't be entirely sure, Orihime could have sworn that Idino's mouth softened slightly and curled at the edges before he said, "All right then. Now we just have to figure out how we're going to get out of our immediate predicament."

Orihime had almost completely forgotten about the E.T.'s and now chanced a look over the lockers to see what was going on. It was probably not the best idea as something flew up and struck her face causing her to lose her balance and fall from the lockers before striking her head against the floor and blacking out.


	25. The moment of truth

The Common Thread: Part 25

"How is she doing?"

"Well, she's stable and everything seems to be in order. I can't say for sure, though, until she wakes up that she will make a full recovery. Now, I will be back a little later to check on her, but for now you can all rest easy since she's not in any immediate danger."

"Thank you doctor."

Ichigo didn't stir from his place as he stared out the window with his arms crossed in front of him, until he heard the doctor leave. Then he turned his head slightly in order to address Uryu.

"So, what do you think?"

"About what, specifically?"

Ichigo turned and gave Uryu an irritated as he said, "What do you think about that doctor?"

Uryu adjusted his glasses as he said, "Getting you to actually verbalize what is on your mind is similar to a dentist having to pull out a highly diseased tooth from an extremely uncooperative patient. Fortunately, I don't have to be psychic to understand what you are so pitifully trying to ask, so I will reply that the doctors and everyone else are doing all they can for Orihime so just let them do their jobs."

Ichigo glared at Uryu, "Putting aside the insults, what I don't get is if they are doing their jobs properly, why hasn't Orihime woken up yet? She shouldn't still be in a coma right now if those people would actually get their act together!"

Uryu sighed as he replied, "You're comparing Orihime's healing process to how long it takes her to heal someone with her Shun-Shun-Rikka. Remember, Orihime was injured by something other than a Hollow, so none of the 13 Court Guard Squads have any reason to come over to the World of the Living to heal her faster. Therefore, it is up to her body to heal itself naturally, which takes far more time than you or any of us are used too."

Ichigo was about to retort when Chad stepped in and said, "We're all worried about Orihime, Ichigo. Don't forget."

Ichigo made an impatient noise as he threw his arms in the air and turned back towards the window to stare broodingly over the buildings, cars and people going about their daily lives as if they hadn't a care in the world. It irritated Ichigo to no end that so few people actually cared enough about this girl to come and visit her when she needed them most. Besides himself, Tatsuki, Chad and Uryu had come every day while Mizuiro and Keigo came less frequently, but still fairly consistently. Karin and Yuzu had offered to come with him the other night, but Ichigo had quickly vetoed that idea when his dad had started declaring his desire to come along as well to meet this beautiful young teenager whom he had only seen briefly about four years ago. The last thing Ichigo needed was the stress of watching Isshin Kurosaki acting like a complete idiot in front of his friends and fawning over an unconscious girl.

A sound in the door way caused Ichigo to turn his head slightly and see a male nurse enter the room and say, "Good afternoon, all. Hope you all are doing well."

Uryu responded in a somewhat more amiable tone than he normally used, "I believe we are all doing well physically, for the most part, as you can see."

The male nurse smiled and made his way over to Orihime's bedside as he said, "Just here to check that everything's in order. So, this girl's name is Orihime Inoue, is that right?"

Uryu nodded as he said, "Yes, and we are her friends."

The nurse then asked, "Oh, very good friends from the look of it, but I haven't noticed any family around. Is she an orphan or something?"

Ichigo spoke up, "Why do you want to know?"

"Oh, no reason in particular. Just curious."

Tatsuki said softly from her position next to Orihime, "Just finish your job and get moving. This girl is unconscious and so can't tell you herself that she would not be interested in the likes of you."

The male nurse looked slightly offended as he said, "Hey! I never meant anything of the kind! Can't a guy make conversation without getting his head chewed off?"

Ichigo turned and gave the nurse a meaningful look as he said, "I've protected Orihime from worse than you. Get moving."

The male nurse started to protest when he suddenly realized that he had no desire to find out just how tough this orange-haired teen was and so quickly finished making some notes from the monitors and tried to nonchalantly exit the room.

Uryu gave a sigh as he asked Ichigo, "Would you try to be more civil to the staff here? Most of these people are merely trying to do their jobs and you act as if they are all out to assassinate Orihime or something."

Ichigo turned and glared at Uryu as he retorted, "That was about the fifth male doctor or nurse that came in here for the sole purpose of checking out Orihime and trying to dig up some dirt on her. How can I not be irritated?"

"While I don't think it's right of them to come in here to gawk at Orihime like a bunch of hormonal teens, you can stop acting like you are a hairsbreadth away from ripping their heads off."

Before Ichigo could say anything else, Uryu said, "I don't know about any of you, but I am rather hungry, so I'll go pick up some snacks from the lower level."

Chad silently fell into step behind the Quincy and Ichigo turned back to the window for a few moments before Tatsuki's voice caused him to turn completely around.

"I'm so sorry."

Ichigo had a pretty good idea that Tatsuki was not talking to him and once he had turned around he saw that Tatsuki's face, while looking into Orihime's calm countenance, seemed to show that she was not entirely aware of her surroundings. He decided that for the time being, he would let her speak without interruption.

"You'll never blame me, but I know the truth. You're right in front of me, but you've gone somewhere where I can't follow and it's all my fault. If you'll just come back, I'll never ask anything of you again."

Ichigo closed his eyes as he tried to process how he should respond. Tatsuki had been all but uncommunicative since Orihime had arrived at the hospital and so he had a hunch that she was probably feeling guilty about the whole accident, but he had never expected it to be this bad. Tatsuki was a completely different person, almost a mere shell of herself and he couldn't stand it anymore. Walking over to Orihime's bedside, he knelt down until he was eyelevel with Tatsuki and made sure she noticed him before he began.

"I'm not good at this kind of thing Tatsuki, but you need to snap out of it. You didn't hit Orihime with that car and she would be the first one to tell you to lighten up on yourself because the whole thing was an accident. You're speaking to Orihime as if she's miles away when she's right in front of you."

Tatsuki shook her head as she said, "Her body is right in front of me, but she's not here."

Ichigo blinked in confusion before he said, "What?"

Tatsuki raised a shaky hand to rub her forehead as she said, "When Orihime disappeared the last time, I told you that I had always been able to sense her presence and that I was worried because I was not able to feel her anywhere."

Ichigo nodded and said, "Yeah, I remember. So?"

Tatsuki looked Ichigo in the eye as she said, "Even though her body is lying right here where I can touch her hand and feel her pulse going, I can't sense Orihime's presence."

"I…what…how…I don't get it."

Tatsuki shook her head, "I don't get it either, but as soon as the car hit Orihime, something happened. I don't know what, but it…it's my fault and I can't fix it."

If Tatsuki had been prone to crying, Ichigo was sure she would have broken down long ago, but because she was not that kind of person it almost had more of an emotional effect on him as a result. To hear to absolute dejection and guilt in her tones was more than he wanted to deal with, but Tatsuki had been his friend for years and so he couldn't stand to see her in this state.

"I feel just as helpless and frustrated as you, Tatsuki. I completely don't understand what may or may not have happened to Orihime, but as Chad and Uryu have said before, the more you blame and punish yourself now, the more Orihime will hurt later because your pain will affect her. Personally, I don't get it, but from what I've heard, she's pretty good at…what's the word…ummm…emphasis…no…darn it, what was the word?"

"Empathy?"

"Yeah, that, I guess. Anyway, if you're her best friend, then quit blaming yourself and start figuring out how you're going to…I don't know...do whatever girls do."

Tatsuki looked from him to Orihime and then back before raising her eyes to the ceiling and saying, "Well, Orihime, you sure know how to pick them. I guess I can see why you would be attracted to him now, but I still think he's an idiot most of the time."

Ichigo stood up and asked, "Just what are you talking about?"

Tatsuki closed her eyes and shook her head as she said, "I'll explain when Orihime wakes up."

"Explain what?"

Tatsuki gave him a more Tatsuki like expression and said, "You really are an idiot who needs absolutely everything spelled out for you. Keigo, Mizuiro, Uryu, Chad and even some of your Soul Reaper friends figured out Orihime's 'secret' forever ago, while you're still clueless."

Ichigo retorted, "Why would I want to know Orihime's secrets and how do you know that everyone else knows them? You're not making any sense. "

Tatsuki rolled her eyes as she said, "Of course it wouldn't make sense to you because you're a clueless idiot, so let me help you. Orihime is in love."

Ichigo blinked before he said, "In love? With a guy? That's her big secret? Why does she keep it secret? Who is it?"

Tatsuki gave him a small smile, "Use whatever amount of brain you have in there to try and figure it out. I'm sure if you think hard enough, you'll discover the answer. She's loved this guy for a long time for all the times he's saved her and she's followed him to different dimensions and saved his live a number of times. That's all the help I'll give you."

Ichigo was opening his mouth to speak when Uryu's voice said, "Well, I hope you guys like rice balls because that was the only item that looked even remotely appetizing downstairs right now."

Ignoring the food, Ichigo decided to try and ask Uryu, "Hey, Tatsuki's been telling me that Orihime's in love. Is that true?"

Uryu paused for a moment before turning and looking from Ichigo to Tatsuki very slowly before answering, "Yes, I guess it is in a way."

"Well, do you know who she loves?"

Uryu gave Ichigo a condescending look as he replied, "You mean you haven't figured that much out yet. You're just as clueless as ever."

Ichigo retorted, "Will you guys stop calling me clueless? This is the first I've ever heard of this and I'm just trying to figure out who the guy is?"

Uryu stood up to his full height as he asked, "Why are you so agitated about finding out that Orihime has a guy whom she loves?"

"Well, from what I hear from Tatsuki, everyone else seems to know who this guy is and I just want to be sure that it's someone we can trust her with."

"Why would that matter to you?"

"Because she's my friend and what kind of friend would I be if the guy she liked turned out to be a huge jerk who only wanted to go out with her as a trophy girlfriend or something! Or what if this guy is no good and only ends up hurting her! Is this guy even someone we know?"

Uryu gave Ichigo a small smile as he replied, "Oh, we know him and you know him too, but it would be too easy to just give you the answer, so we'll just let you figure it out."

"Whatever! I don't really care. I just want to make sure that he's not going to-what was that?"

It took the four friends a little time to figure out what the noise they were hearing was, but once they realized the source it took a few moments for them to even process what was going on let alone how they should react until Ichigo snapped them all back to reality.

"Orihime!"

She had flat lined.

**Author's Note:**

Once again, don't start reaching for your shot guns just yet! If I killed off Orihime that would be the end of my story and Ichigo would have no reason to keep on living (in my opinion, but we'll ignore that point for the time being).

In my opinion, before Ichigo can come face to face with the fact that he truly loves Orihime, one of two things needs to happen. Either 1) she starts going out with someone else (preferably someone who is a complete and total creep but is very good at hiding his true nature from her since Ichigo needs to want to save her from such an evil boyfriend) or 2) she almost dies. As melodramatic and cliché as my reasoning is, in Ichigo's case things need to be paraded in front of him before he finally gets a clue so that's why I settled on this near death experience for Orihime.

Hopefully, that helped to clear things up a little since I don't want you to think that she is actually going to die. Just need to snap Ichigo out of his stupor before Orihime comes back.


	26. The short train ride

The Common Thread: Part 26

"Would you just look at this view! Absolutely stunning, isn't it? Aren't you glad you decided to sign up with me to train out here? We're going to have such fun!"

"I think she gets the point, Rinu."

"Well, looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the train tracks this morning. C'mon, lighten up you two! Doesn't the scenery make you glad you're alive?"

"Maybe we like to enjoy the scenery and its tranquility, rather than screaming about how beautiful it is so that everyone in the caboose can hear us."

"Fine! You want to be like that, I just won't talk to you anymore! I'll just talk to Orihime!"

"Lucky her."

Once again, Orihime had woken up with absolutely no idea where she was or who she was travelling with at first. Upon regaining her senses, Orihime had discovered that she was sleeping on a bed, in a cabin, on a moving train and with two girls who resembled Rangiku and Nanao, now named Rinu and Nano. Both girls seemed to know Orihime and so Orihime was once again thrown into the position of having to play 'catch up' in discovering who these people were, how they knew her and what they were doing on a train in the first place. Apparently, she was travelling with these girls to a medical training facility out in the country owned and run by the Karci family out in Cranbury Village. As if the shock of waking up to find herself on a train hadn't been enough, Orihime could scarcely believe that she was travelling back to the same house and town she had lived in for weeks when she had gotten to know Mr. Karci and stayed with her aunt and uncle. Obviously, none of the people she had known from then would be around anymore, but she wondered if she could somehow find out what had happened to all her friends and family.

Turning her attention back to her two bickering companions, Orihime said the first thing that came to her mind in order to try and stop their arguing.

"I think we're slowing down. We must be approaching the station."

Rinu all but jumped over to the window and exclaimed, "We're here! Oh, it's so quaint!"

Nano rolled her eyes and leaned over to whisper to Orihime, "Just how long do you think these rapturous comments will keep up? I'm betting about a week before Rinu finally gets sick of country life and pines for the city."

Before Orihime could respond, a conductor began making his way down the corridor, knocking on doors and saying, "Arrival in Cranbury Village in five minutes. Arrival at the station in five minutes."

Just hearing the name Cranbury Village once again caused Orihime to feel excited, unsure, curious and apprehensive all at the same time. Some of her mixed emotions came from not knowing how well she would fit in and learn at the medical center, but most of the butterflies in her stomach were due to her sensing an all too familiar presence waiting on the station platform.

**Author's Note:**

And so we come to the last lifetime and my last list of characters. I have to say that I enjoyed developing this lifetime the most for reasons that will become more apparent later on. Hope you like it!

Iymo Karci-Ichigo Kurosaki

Uminu-Uryu

Chad-Chad (I couldn't come up with anything better so I just left his name alone…and also his personality is pretty much identical so…he's just more fun to leave as is)

Rinu-Rangiku

Nano-Nanao (I didn't change her name much either since all of my different combinations of names sounded REALLY dumb)

Kyan Karci-Karin Kurosaki

Yiru Karci-Yuzu Kurosaki

Mr. and Mrs. Karci-Mr. and Mrs. Kurosaki


	27. The arrival at the platform

The Common Thread: Part 27

Orihime was used to trying to get off of trains. However, what she was not used to was trying to get off of a train that had steps. And she certainly was not experienced in the subtle art of walking in high heels. Granted the heel of her shoes were only about an inch high and were thankfully not anything like a stiletto, but that still didn't make her feel any better as she made her way towards the exit and trying not to fall over. Putting the steps and the heels together at once was more than poor Orihime could handle. Orihime's heel got caught between the steps and in her fight to regain her balance, she flailed her arms wildly which only made things worse as she was about to cruelly twist her ankle. When a pressure suddenly appeared under her left hand, Orihime instinctively clutched at it as if it were a lifeline saving her from drowning. Once she had regained her balance, Orihime took a moment to properly compose herself before she dared to look over and meet the anticipated gaze of a pair of dark brown eyes which were filled with an all too familiar look of concern mixed with a hint of amusement.

"Are you all right, miss? You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"

"Oh, I'm perfectly fine, thanks to you. Just me being my usual clumsy self. I'm sorry."

The Ichigo-look-alike blinked in a perplexed manner and managed to ask, "Why are you apologizing? It's not like you tripped on purpose."

Before Orihime could say any more, a familiar voice cut through the crowd saying, "Hey, Iymo! What's the hold-up? Why don't you stop flirting with the poor girl and ask her if she is one of the new students we are supposed to be escorting back to the clinic?"

As soon as he had heard the voice, Iymo had begun to sigh and roll his eyes, until he heard the last question where his face began to flush with embarrassment, only rivaled by Orihime's own burning cheeks.

"Wh-what?" Iymo spluttered, "Quit talking nonsense, Uminu!"

A young man who looked precisely like Uryu, rolled his eyes and replied, "For crying out loud, you're the one who wouldn't let go of her hand in public and you're ready to chew me out for simply reminding you that we are standing in the middle of a train station while you two-"

"Guys, we need to gather these lady's suitcases and get back to the clinic," said a deep, calming voice.

Looking behind Uminu, Orihime saw another young man who looked just like Chad.

Iymo shot Uminu one final warning glare before he responded, "You're right, Chad. Let's get moving.

Less than ten minutes later, Orihime was squeezed in between Rinu and Nano (fortunately for Orihime, Rinu had all but sprinted off the train in order to observe every nook and cranny of the quaint train station while Nano had gone along to make sure that Rinu didn't get into too much trouble, so they had missed the 'drama') in Iymo's car. The trip to the Karci Clinic was mostly uneventful and peaceful, except for about a minute when Iymo lost control of the car trying to punch Uminu's nose when the dark-haired boy had oh-so-innocently asked Iymo if Orihime's hands were as soft as they looked. After he had regained control, Orihime could tell from looking at his neck and ears that he was just as embarrassed as she was. To make matters worse, she could sense Rinu and Nano looking at her curiously and knew that she would be getting 'the third degree' when they arrived at the Karci residence and were comfortably settled.

A few minutes later, they were pulling up to the house and Orihime smiled when she saw that not much had changed about the house or the grounds since she had last been there. Not that she would have been the best judge of that since she had only been there once and it had been in the evening, but her instinct told her that the character of the house and its occupants were very much the same as they had been who knew how long ago.

Her attention was drawn to a small welcoming committee at the front entrance where she saw the elder Mr. Karci flanked by Iymo's sisters. The person who drew Orihime's attention the most was the woman standing next to Mr. Karci. Even though she had never seen the woman before in real life or even in photos, Orihime knew immediately that she must be Mrs. Karci, or Mrs. Masaki Kurosaki as she had been known in Karakura Town.

"Welcome, ladies!" said Mrs. Karci as the car pulled to a stop and the young men got out to help with the luggage and to assist Orihime, Rinu and Nano from the car, "I hope the trip was not too stressful. Your rooms are ready if you want to rest first or freshen up before taking the grand tour."

Rinu spoke up, "Oh, we got a wonderful night's sleep last night and this place is so charming I would love to take a tour right now."

Nano closed her eyes for a moment before she said to Mrs. Karci, "I'm sorry for my friend's impolite response to your kind offer. We would love to see the rooms you have so graciously prepared for us and then would be honored for you to show us around your lovely home and clinic."

Mrs. Karci laughed pleasantly and said, "Oh, I took no offense and am delighted that you are so eager to begin right away."

Turning her attention to Iymo, Mrs. Karci asked, "Is anything wrong, Iymo? You look rather nervous about something."

Before Iymo could respond, Uminu spoke up, "Oh, it's nothing for you to be worried about, Mrs. Karci. He's just caught a small bug."

Mrs. Karci started walking towards her son saying in a concerned voice, "Iymo, are you feeling ill? You should have told me if you didn't feel well this morning and I wouldn't have asked you to drive out to the station."

Iymo had given Uminu a confused look before he turned to his mother and said, "No, Mum. I feel fine."

Uminu leaned in and seemed to examine Iymo's face for a moment before he asked in a very serious tone, "Are you sure you feel fine? Back at the train station I could have sworn you caught something."

"What are you talking about?"

Uminu shrugged his shoulders and said, "While I'm no expert on the symptoms, I would stake my reputation to say that you had caught the love bug."

Everyone was silent for a moment before Mrs. Karci finally asked, "The what?"

Uminu stepped back and looked thoughtful before he said, "Back at the station when Iymo jumped in to prevent Ms. Inoue from falling off the train, the way he looked at her and kept holding her hand as he was talking to her, I was so sure-"

Uminu's sentence was cut short when he suddenly ducked under Iymo's arm and took off running with Iymo chasing him and shouting, "I swear, Uminu, when I get my hands on you I'm going to tear you into miniscule pieces and scatter you to the four winds! Do you hear me?"

The rest of the group had remained speechless throughout the entire exchange until Mr. Karci said under his breath, "Well, it's about time. Looks like he has his father's taste. Good thing."

This snapped Mrs. Karci out of her daze and she turned to look at Orihime, whose head was bowed trying to shield her burning face with her hair, so she turned to her husband and said, "Make yourself useful and grab some of the luggage. Kyan, Yiru, why don't you show Ms. Rinu and Ms. Nano to their rooms? Chad, please grab Ms. Orihime's luggage and follow me."

Everyone did as Mrs. Karci instructed and Orihime found herself being guided by Mrs. Karci's gentle and supportive arm. As they walked, Mrs. Karci tried to help Orihime feel more comfortable.

"Don't mind Uminu. He's always been a bit of a tease and he loves to pick on Iymo the most since he is the most easy to get a reaction out of."

Orihime replied, "It was really my own fault. I wasn't watching where I was stepping and-"

Mrs. Karci cut her off saying, "Whatever happened, I'm sure it was an accident, so just put it right out of your mind. Once Uminu and Iymo have settled down, I'll talk to them and make sure that they don't say or do anything to embarrass our guests anymore."

After she was shown to her room and was allowed a bit of privacy, Orihime laid back on her bed and hoped that she could avoid such situations in the future. All though, holding Iymo's hand had felt so very nice, and looking into his eyes...that was something she would never tire of. Mentally shaking herself, Orihime sighed and pulled a pillow over her face in an attempt to block out such thoughts. As one might have guessed, such a gesture did absolutely nothing to quell those lovely memories…she could still feel the firm pressure of his hand holding hers…


	28. How to break your beau's arm

The Common Thread: Part 28

"C'mon you guys! You don't have to straighten up every single little thing before you leave. We're just going to come back here after lunch and get everything out all over again, so let's go eat!"

Orihime looked over to where Rinu was impatiently bouncing up and down in her desire to get moving and Orihime said, "Just let me put away these vials and I'll be right there."

Once she had placed the box of small glass bottles on the proper shelf, Orihime promptly turned around and started making her way through the aisle way toward her famished friend. Unfortunately, in her hurry to appease her friend, Orihime failed to notice someone's discarded book lying in wait by one of the tables, stepped on it at just the right angle, felt her foot fly out behind her and tumbled to the floor. On the way down, she managed to bang the side of her head against said table and as soon as her head made contact, Orihime knew it was just hard enough to leave a small bruise on her forehead. As she fell, she could hear her two friends calling out in concern and sensed them coming towards her.

"Orihime! Are you all right?"

"For Heaven's sake, Orihime! One of these days you are really going to hurt yourself."

"What happened?"

Orihime closed her eyes as soon as she heard the last question as somewhere in the back of her mind when she had fallen, she had been glad that he had not been there for once to witness her clumsiness. Apparently, she had had no such luck.

Scrambling to her feet, Orihime smiled brightly and said, "I'm perfectly fine, everybody. See?"

Iymo looked unconvinced and advanced to where Orihime was and said, "You cracked your head pretty hard on that table. Are you sure you're fine?"

Orihime thought about twirling in a circle, but decided against it as her spinning head would only make her fall over again, which would definitely not help her case, and settled for simply repeating herself by saying, "I'm fine. This is not the first time I've fallen over and it most certainly won't be the last."

Before Iymo, Rinu or Nano could say anything, Uminu's voice came from the classroom doorway, "Well, Iymo, I guess you'll have to take Orihime's word for it this time. However, next time she falls over in your presence, I will take it as a sign that you do not love her if she manages to reach the floor before you can catch her."

Iymo was quiet for a space of about five seconds before he started running towards the doorway growling, "I'm going to wring your neck, Umi-oooofff!"

Unfortunately, Iymo had failed to notice yet another mischievous textbook waiting patiently beside another desk for some unsuspecting passerby to step on it at just the right angle. Due to Iymo's momentum, he nearly flew into the opposite wall where a bookshelf was standing and caused it to collapse on top of him. Everyone stood frozen in place until Iymo's slight stirrings caused Orihime's brain to snap into action.

"Uminu, help me get this bookcase off of Iymo! Nano, please go get Mr. and Mrs. Karci! They'll know what to do. Rinu, go see if you can find some bandages or something! Hurry!"

All orders were followed without question or protest and once the bookshelf was righted and most of the books shoved out of the way, Orihime was relieved to see that Iymo seemed to be stunned and not unconscious. There were no traces of blood, but a second look at Iymo's left arm caused Orihime to suspect that the bone might be broken.

As Iymo began to show signs of coming back to his senses, Orihime laid a gentle hand on his forehead and said, "Don't move just yet. I think you might have broken your arm. How many fingers am I holding up?"

Iymo's eyes crossed for a moment before he said in a slightly slurred tone, "Two…no wait…five…oh, it might be ten…"

Orihime flashed Uminu a concerned glance before she turned back to Iymo and said, "Do you feel sick at all?"

Iymo replied, "I don't think so."

Orihime could have sworn Uminu said under his breath, "He's only sick at heart, pining after you," however, she never had the courage to ask if she had heard him right.

To Iymo, Orihime said, "You might have a concussion, so I want you to lie very still until your parents get here to take a look at you."

Uminu spoke up emphatically, "He's fine. He doesn't have a concussion."

Orihime looked at Uminu in surprise and said, "You don't know that for sure. He couldn't tell how many fingers I was holding up."

Uminu shrugged his shoulders and said, "That doesn't prove that he has a concussion and I know for a fact that he doesn't have one."

Orihime wanted to cross her arms, but settled for simply asking, "And how can you be so sure that he doesn't have a concussion?"

Uminu gave Orihime a small grin as he replied, "Let me show you."

Before Orihime could say anything else, she suddenly found herself tilted back so that she could look up at the ceiling, but instead gazed into Uminu's eyes, which were glinting with amusement. In another instant, Uminu leaned down and kissed the tip of Orihime's nose and she was so shocked that all she could do was stare at Uminu in bewilderment. He gave her a small wink before he picked her back up and let her sit in her original position.

Unfortunately for her, Uminu's timing couldn't have been worse. A split second before it happened, Orihime heard Iymo growling in frustration and saw him beginning to sit bolt upright himself. Iymo's head connected with Orihime's exactly where she had hit her head on the desk a few minutes before and both of them gave small yelps of pain before they flopped onto their backs in a daze. In her hazy state, Uminu's laughter somehow managed to pique her interest.

"Uminu is nothing like the Uryu I know," thought Orihime to herself, "He's a lot more of a prankster. Not that I really mind, but I'm going to have to be rather careful around him from now on. Especially when Iymo is around as well."

As the sounds of Rinu and Nano coming back with the Karci's reached her ears, Orihime inwardly groaned and wished she were anywhere else right at the moment…well, maybe that wasn't entirely true…


	29. How to heal your beau's heart

The Common Thread: Part 29

"Orihime. Oh, Orihime. Hey, wake up Orihime!"

"What? What's wrong?"

Rinu sighed as she responded, "You were daydreaming again, class is over and I'm ready to go eat. I've checked all the aisle ways already and there is not a single textbook waiting anywhere you might happen to step, so let's get a move on!"

Orihime smiled as she got up saying, "You really don't have to do that every day now, Rinu. It's been almost four months since the last accident."

Rinu wagged a finger in Orihime's face saying, "You haven't had any more accidents due to my taking precautions. Iymo only just got out of his cast after breaking his arm in that bookshelf incident and it would break my heart to see you in that same sorry state."

Orihime rolled her eyes, "You know, Rinu, I've had broken bones and all sorts of other injuries before and they didn't kill me before."

Rinu placed a hand over her heart and said in a mortified tone, "I never said you would die from your injuries and if anything that serious ever happened to you I would go out of my mind with worry. I simply said that I wouldn't be able to bear seeing you in a cast."

Rinu looked thoughtful before she continued, "All though, if you were to break an arm or a leg…you would be almost entirely dependent on me for everything."

Nano's voice came from behind the two girls as she caught up to them and said, "And all of a sudden, an accident that caused minimal damage to Orihime's person would suddenly put her life in mortal danger due to her lack of wisdom in choosing someone to help nurse her back to health."

Rinu waved a fist in Nano's face as she said, "I am too a decent nurse! Why, just the other day I was able to successfully draw blood!"

Nano rolled her eyes as she said, "That's because you closed your eyes just before you inserted the syringe. As a result, you nearly stuck the needle in the poor girl's neck rather than her arm."

Rinu looked sulky as she retorted, "I'm getting better at seeing blood, and I just think blood should stay in the body at all times."

Another huge eye roll from Nano as she said, "If that were actually the case, then there would be no real need for doctors or nurses, now would there?"

Before Rinu could continue the argument, Orihime broke in by saying, "You both have different strengths. Nano, you would be a great nurse in surgery. Helping the doctor take care of the patients while their life is in your hands is something that you excel at. Rinu has a really kind bedside manner. She laughs and jokes with adults and is really good at putting young children at ease around the other doctors and nurses trying to help."

As they continued towards the dining area, Orihime allowed her mind to travel back to when Iymo had broken his arm. Once his parents had set his arm, made sure there was no other damage to his body, assured him that Orihime was completely well and somehow convinced him not to rip Uminu's head off, Iymo had sat quietly for a time before getting up awkwardly and walking out of the room. Later that day, after Orihime had finished with her classes, she had been heading back to her room when she suddenly felt herself being pulled into an empty classroom. Before she could make any noises of surprise, she had felt a hand clap over her mouth.

Iymo had given her an apologetic look as he said, "Sorry, but I wanted to talk to you alone and this seemed like the best time. I hope you don't mind."

Orihime had nodded and tried to look anywhere but into Iymo's face as she was sure that she would lose her composure if she were to do that and so opted for looking at his shirtfront as she replied, "Oh no, I don't mind. You simply startled me, that's all. What's on your mind?"

Iymo had abruptly turned so that Orihime was looking at his shoulder before he said, "I, um, just wanted to be absolutely sure that you were fine. I mean, that your head wasn't bothering you at all."

Orihime had laughed nervously and lightly tapped the side of her head saying, "Oh, you're still concerned about me? My head is like a rock and it's been hit by much harder things than the side of a table, so I'm just fine. You're the one with a brok-"

Before Orihime could finish her sentence, Iymo had suddenly turned, put his hands on her shoulders (his left arm awkwardly settled on her right shoulder due to the cast surrounding it) and said in a shocked and angry tone, "Who are they?"

Orihime had blinked in confusion before she managed, "What?"

Iymo had looked borderline furious as he said, "You just said your head has taken worse beatings than hitting a table, so I want to know who the people are. The ones who have hurt you."

It had taken Orihime a few moments to fully grasp what he was asking of her until she realized what she had said. She had been referring to her times in Karakura Town and Hueco Mundo, when Arrancars like Yammy, Loly, Menoly and other Hollows had knocked her around during her battles with them. Thinking back her comment, she had inwardly groaned as she realized that Iymo could misunderstand and think that someone in her past had abused her. Well, obviously that was the case, but he probably thought it was someone like her parents, or siblings, or other acquaintance she had known before she came to Cranbury.

Her had mind scrambled to come up with some sort of rational explanation to give the concerned young man and so said, "Oh, I've done my fair share of falling down stairs, tripping and rolling down hills and such like, that's all! No one's ever abused me like that."

Iymo had looked unconvinced as he said, "Are you sure? If you don't feel comfortable telling me, that's fine, I can take you to Mum and she will have a better idea of how to handle things. If someone has hurt you, you shouldn't protect them no matter what they might have threatened to do to you. They deserve to be punished, whoever they are, and I promise that I will protect you from them, no matter what."

Orihime had not responded right away as the determined look in Iymo's eyes had been exactly the same as when Ichigo had come up to apologize to her after they had both been severely injured by Yammy and to promise to protect her in the future. Rukia had been there and so Orihime's joy in seeing Ichigo return to his old determined self had been somewhat tainted since Rukia had dragged Ichigo to Orihime and had not come to her on his own and also because Orihime felt useless due to the fact that she had not been able to play a bigger role in helping Ichigo regain his confidence. Rukia and Ichigo had a connection with one another that was special, but that didn't make her own relationship with Ichigo any less meaningful. Whatever Ichigo's feelings were for her and Rukia was something that only time would reveal and she should not force her love upon Ichigo and would wait for him forever if that was what needed to happen. Rukia was her dear friend and if Ichigo decided that he loved her enough to spend the rest of his life with her, than Orihime would stand by their sides and support them no matter how it might hurt her for a while.

Looking into Iymo's eyes and face, Orihime had realized something that had not occurred to her at the time. Even though Rukia had all but forced Ichigo to come to her and apologize, he would have come to her eventually on his own to make up for his own perceived failings. It lifted a small, ignored burden from her heart to think about that fact. Even if he didn't love her, Ichigo and now Iymo were concerned about her and her welfare and she found herself once again trying to control her racing heart and flushed cheeks from betraying her emotions.

Orihime had forced her mind to focus on the matter at hand and smiled at Iymo as she said, "I appreciate your concern and if I'm ever in trouble, either you or your mother will be the first to know about it if I need help. However, I have never been mistreated in that way ever in my life, so you can set your mind at rest."

Iymo had looked skeptical for a moment before he let out a breath and said, "All right, if you say so."

Iymo's face had turned red as he realized that his hands were still resting on Orihime's shoulders and had quickly removed them and said, "Well, now that we have that straightened out I wanted to ask you…what did I want to ask you?"

He had looked thoughtful and scratched his head for a few moments before he looked back at Orihime, his face had gone red and he had said, "Oh yeah. I just wanted to make sure that you weren't too shaken up about…ahem…Uminu kissing you…"

The last part had been hard for Orihime to hear as Iymo had all but mumbled the words before he continued, "He's a real jerk sometimes and I just wanted to be sure that you were fine."

Orihime memory had blanked for a moment and so said, "Uminu kissed me?"

Iymo had looked scandalized as he said, "You don't remember? Uminu forced you to kiss him so that he could prove I didn't have a concussion. Honestly, I don't understand how he thinks he proved his point, but he forced himself on you and I wanted to be sure that…I don't know…"

Orihime had taken a few more moments before the memory came back and she had waved her arms saying, "Oh no! Uminu didn't kiss me! I mean, he pushed me back and kissed my nose, so I guess you could say that he kissed me, but he didn't kiss me like that, all though I can see why you might think that since all you could see was Uminu's back, but I'm perfectly fine! Really!"

At Orihime's outburst, Iymo had looked startled and by the end he looked even more confused than before, but with a good touch of relief in his expression as he said, "I see. I seem to have overreacted. Well, I'm glad you're all right."

Orihime had smiled and said, "Yes, I'm fine. In fact, compared to you with your broken arm, I'm fantastic."

Iymo had looked sheepish for a moment before he said, "I'm sorry that I dragged you in here and gave you the third degree. For some reason, I just felt like I needed to make absolutely sure that you were all right before I did anything else today."

Orihime had smiled and grasped Iymo's good right hand in both of hers and said, "Thank you again. You're very kind."

Iymo had returned her smile with a small grin before he looked down at their hands and blushed slightly and shifted on his feet. However, he had made no move to remove his hand until Orihime had let go.

Orihime smiled at the memory and her mind was pulled back to the present when Rinu called out next to her, "Hey there guys! Did you turn in your applications yet?"

Iymo, Uminu and Chad approached the group of girls as Uminu smiled and said, "Yes, we just turned them in this afternoon, so all we have to do now is wait for our assignment to be sent to us. I'm really hoping to be put in the 146th Division under General Zakaki, but we'll have to wait and see. We should all be put in the same division at least since we all turned them in at the same time."

Orihime's heart skipped a beat as she remembered the past few weeks conversations at the dinner table about how Iymo, Uminu and Chad were planning on joining the army in order to fight in a war happening all across Europe. Fortunately, Cranbury Village was far enough inland that they didn't see many of the repercussions of war, but that didn't eliminate the fact that their country needed able men to fight and strong women to hold the rest of the country together at all costs. Apparently, the young men had opted to not wait for a telegram to arrive telling them that they were required to sign up in the army and had instead voluntarily signed themselves up. As soon as the topic had come up a few weeks ago, Orihime had known immediately that Iymo at least would want to go as soon as possible as he was bound and determined to play his part in ending the war. His sense of duty to his country and his desire to keep his country and family safe was exactly the same as Ichigo's, and while Orihime did not want him to leave, she knew that he had to go.

The conversation at dinner revolved around the young men's decision and musing over where they might be stationed, what they might have to do and so on. Orihime contributed little to the conversation and merely picked at her food, but did her utmost to look as happy as the others and by the end Orihime was sure that no one suspected the deep worries in her heart as she made her way back to her room. Her mind was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the person trying to attract her attention from behind until she felt a hand grab her arm and firmly but gently pull her into an empty classroom.


	30. How your beau might ask you out

The Common Thread: Part 30

"Goodness, Iymo! You startled me!"

Iymo looked sheepish for a moment before he grinned and said, "Sorry, I did try to catch your attention, but you were really lost in thought. What's on your mind?"

Orihime blushed and said, "Oh, nothing of real importance. Did you want to talk to me about something?"

Iymo gave Orihime a searching look before he said, "Well, what I wanted to talk to you about was exactly what I just asked you about. Ever since this afternoon, you've been rather introverted and I get the feeling that something is bothering you. Please forgive me if I'm being pushy, but I have a funny feeling that it has something to do with my signing up for the army this early."

Orihime blinked at Iymo in surprise. Not to say that Ichigo was insensitive, but in all the years she had known the Soul Reaper, Ichigo had never shown signs of being so perceptive to her feelings and so for Iymo to so accurately read her emotions…she felt somewhat exposed…but at the same time relieved.

She inhaled slowly before she began, "You are extremely observant. The only other people who have been able to read me as well as you are my late brother and my best friend."

Iymo's grin returned as he said, "I'll take that as a compliment. Anyway, I just wanted to be sure that I wasn't just imagining things, but after hearing your confession, I think I can ask you something that I've wanted to for a while now. I'm not that great in putting my emotions into words, but I need to say this."

Taking a deep breath, Iymo continued, "I've never met a girl…young woman, like you Orihime. We've only known each other for a few months and I can only hope that when this war is over and I come back, that we can…I don't know…get to know each other even better."

Orihime's eyes widened as she realized where this conversation might be going and she forced her mind to stay alert and to keep her knees and other joints from becoming stiff, lest she pass out and interrupt this beautiful speech.

"This is going to sound silly, but as I was signing the enlistment papers…I hesitated for a moment because…because…ah, how do I say this? I, uh…I…kept thinking about you. I know it's silly and this probably sounds like a bunch of nonsensical romantic dribble, but having to leave you…here…while I go away and fight…I don't know…it just didn't feel right."

Iymo sighed and scratched his head in an agitated manner as he said, "I'm being ridiculous and I know that and I completely understand if you don't…you know…feel anything for me…but I just wanted to tell you before I left…how I felt...and to ask you…if maybe you might feel something for me in return. If you don't, I understand…I just need to know."

Iymo's face was burning in embarrassment and Orihime's heart went out to him. He had just laid his entire heart bare in front of her, knowing full well that she might reject him. She had often dreamed of this moment and she had mentally composed flowery responses where she would thank Ichigo for his affection and sweetly say that his feelings were wholeheartedly reciprocated. However, now that she was actually in the situation she had so long dreamed about (maybe not with Ichigo, but with someone who was a lot like him in many ways), those romantic speeches seemed melodramatic, so Orihime opted for a heartfelt and straightforward response.

"I'm flattered by your words, Iymo, and I don't think it's nonsense at all. To be perfectly honest, I have been attracted to you for a while as well. Obviously, with you going away in the army, it will make getting to know each other a little more difficult, but not impossible."

Iymo's grin spread across his countenance until his entire face fairly glowed in pleasure as he said, "I can't tell you how much I hoped that you would say something like that. Ever since this afternoon, I've been…well, that doesn't matter now. Let's just say that I was torn between the idea that I was shoving too much on you too soon, but I dreaded not sharing my feelings with you before I left and then discover later that someone else swept you off your feet while I was away because you didn't know how I felt. Anyway, as you said, a long-distance relationship at this time is going to be difficult, but not impossible if we send letters. In the time I have left here, I plan on approaching my parents and writing to any family you might have to ask their permission to…I suppose court you would probably be the best way of describing it."

Orihime looked at the floor as she said quietly, "The only person you need to ask permission from is me."

Iymo looked confused for a moment before he grasped the full meaning of Orihime's words and he asked, "You have absolutely no family? Not even someone whom you have lost contact with?"

Orihime looked at Iymo with a sad smile as she said, "The only family I ever knew was my older brother who raised me until I was twelve and then he passed away in an accident."

"I see. I'm sorry."

Orihime shook her head as she said, "There is no reason for you to be sorry. I've been blessed with friends who treat me like a part of their family, so I've never really felt all alone."

Iymo smiled again as he said, "Well, that's good to hear at least. I guess, all that's left to do then is talk to my parents, so maybe we can go talk to them together."

Orihime decided to act on an impulse, leaned forward to grasp Iymo's hand, gently pulled him down to her level and softly kissed his cheek as she said, "Thank you, Iymo."

Iymo's face burned despite the fact that he was grinning and wrapping his long fingers around Orihime's warm hand as he managed, "Not…ahem…not a problem…Orihime."

Before Orihime could respond, a sound similar to suppressed snickering reached her ears. Iymo must have heard it as well because he glared at the doorway for a moment before he managed to growl out a sentence.

"Uminu…I swear…when I get my hands on you…"

The next moment, not only did Uminu's grinning face pop around the doorway, but Chad, Rinu and Nano's faces as well, which caused Orihime's face to burn as well and drop her eyes to the floor.

Uminu began, "Well, well, well, what do we have here? Iymo, I'm proud of you. You're finally acting upon your emotional instincts like a real man."

Orihime tentatively glanced over at Iymo to gauge his reaction and silently prayed that he wouldn't take Uminu's bait. While she could tell that Iymo was struggling mightily to keep his temper in check, she was relieved to see that Iymo didn't seem to have any intention of acting as he usually did in these situations, which was to begin to chase Uminu.

Orihime was taken completely by surprise when Iymo gently tightened his hold on Orihime's hand and said, "I'm going to go and talk to my parents right now about courting Orihime. Does anyone have a problem with that?"

When no one responded, Iymo turned to Orihime and asked, "Shall we?"

At Orihime's nod of consent, Iymo led the way out of the classroom and towards the sitting room where he was sure his parents were at this time of night. Looking down at their interlocked hands, Orihime couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she realized that this entire thing had not been a dream.


	31. First letters

The Common Thread: Part 31 Letters

Exchanging Letters: Part 1

July 3

Dear Orihime,

Well, I'm here at the training camp and I can't tell you how many times I considered jumping off the train on the way here, running all the way back to Cranbury and saying good-bye to you all over again, only this time without Uminu and my dad there to completely ruin everything. By the way, I'm really sorry that they are so immature. Thank you for preventing me from making a complete fool of myself in front of the entire station when all I wanted to do was throw both of them to the ground and jump on their heads until what little brains they possessed spilled out of their ears after they said those…comments about me…wanting to kiss you…I'm being ridiculous, melodramatic and nonsensical again, so I'll move on to a different topic.

Just as Uminu had hoped, we all ended up in the 146th under General Zakaki and boy do we have our work cut out for us with this guy. The minute we stepped off the bus that had picked us up from the train station, General Zakaki roared at us about worrying about our luggage like giggling girls and demanded we prove we were men by sprinting, mind you sprinting, around the entire base until our feet were bleeding. Quite the welcoming committee, right? Fortunately, since we all started running without question, he didn't wait until our feet were bleeding to have us stop and we simply did about four laps before he said to get out of his sight so we headed to our barracks. General Zakaki has a strong set of lungs, so we heard everything that he said to the next bunch of recruits who arrived and someone must have asked a question since I was sure if any biplanes had passed by at that point they would have been knocked off course by the General's sonic yells. Now we all know, you never question what the General says if you value your hearing.

Other than that, the days have consisted of getting up at ungodly hours of the morning, trying to shove some tasteless mush into your mouth before you hustle outside for endless bouts of what they term 'training', but what some of the guys have started to call 'legalized torture' or LT when any of the officers are around. I might sound like I'm complaining and the way I describe the other guys may make them sound like sissy whiners, but in reality none of us really mind any of it. Uminu told me that he really wanted to be in this Division since Zakaki is infamous for putting his men through hell in training, but the men he trains have a high survival rate and they almost always see action. With all this training, I doubt very much that I will get a desk job (not that they aren't important!) and will actually be able to help out at the front lines.

I'm going to sign off here, but know that I think about you a lot…maybe more than I should, but seeing your kind, smiling face in my mind is probably going to be one of the main things that helps me get through this LT with my sanity intact (again, I'm just kidding…mostly). Now I can only hope that I can somehow manage to get this letter to the outgoing mail box without Uminu seeing me.

Sincerely yours,

Iymo Karci

July 15

Dear Iymo,

I am so sorry for the late response! I received your letter and had every intention of reading it right away, but got distracted and put it in one of my textbooks and then I forgot about it…I am so sorry. I promise it won't happen again!

Anyway, I'm glad that you feel as though you are getting stronger and that you are eager to play your part in helping the war effort. Actually, speaking of the war effort, your parents mentioned the other night that the Karci clinic has been asked to open up as a kind of army hospital in the mainland for men who are severely injured and unable to continue fighting on the battlefront. So, while you are training and eventually go out to help out on the frontlines, just know that the rest of us will be working hard to make sure that you hard-working soldiers are well taken care of.

On a different note, it was very sweet of you to say that you were thinking of me since it makes it easier to write that you are not alone in your sentiments. Every time I pass by that classroom (you know the one I mean), I sometimes have to pinch myself to make sure that I really didn't dream the whole thing. That we're really…developing a deep emotional bond through letters and actually when I think about it, in some ways we are getting to know each other even better through our writing. I don't know if you ever experience this, but sometimes I can't always tell people exactly what I'm feeling or thinking through speech. However, when I go to write it down, everything flows out of me so naturally. It might just be one of my weird quirks…oh well. I just want to let you know that I'm completely new to this whole courting relationship part of life and I have a funny feeling that you've never done something like this either, so we'll just have to figure out how it's supposed to work together. Of course, I can always go and talk to your mother or another knowledgeable person and you…well, I guess talking to Uminu or writing your dad might not be the best idea…as I said before though, we'll figure it out as we go.

I'm glad to hear that you arrived safely and just know that you are in my thoughts as well.

Yours truly,

Orihime Inoue

**Author's Note:**

So I decided that for these next few parts, I would advance the story slightly by having Iymo and Orihime exchange letters. These won't last long and I believe you may enjoy some of the things Iymo and Orihime write about to one another in the next few parts, but I really enjoyed writing these parts since it really places the two in that time period and I could try to think like them and how they would write. I hope you enjoy reading this couples' correspondence with me and laughing along with me.


	32. Unforgettable letters

The Common Thread: Part 32 Letters

Exchanging Letters: Part 2

September 8

Dear Iymo,

You'll never guess what happened yesterday! We were going about our daily routine with classes and such when suddenly your dad burst into the classroom and told everyone to drop whatever they were doing and come to the front hall immediately. We all looked at each other, extremely confused, but got up anyway and calmly made our way out of the classroom and down the hallway in the wake of an immensely excited Mr. Karci. Upon our arrival in the front hall, it took a few moments before any of us realized what was going on and once we did there was a variety of reactions from everyone.

In accordance with Karci House opening its doors to become a kind of army hospital, the Prime Minister came with the purpose of inspecting the facility and school to make sure that everything was in order.

My goodness, I don't think I've ever seen all the girls quite that flustered before. Some shrieked, some threw their hands over their faces and ran into the other room crying and wailing about how they didn't look presentable, others looked as if they were about to faint in the presence of someone so very powerful, while a select few, like Nano, looked intrigued about the Prime Minister's visit and bored with everyone else's antics. As far as I could tell, I was the only one confused enough not to know what to do and so I just stood there and observed everyone else going crazy. When I looked over at the Prime Minister, I was quite surprised to see him grinning and shaking his head in amusement. He leaned over and whispered something in his assistant's ear (a more prim and proper man I have never seen before in my life and I almost thought for a moment that his backbone was a rod by how straight he was standing), who then nodded curtly and addressed the room at large.

He cleared his throat with a high and nasally 'ahem' before he said in a piercing voice, "Ladies, please, do not fret about such silly things. The Prime Minister had no intention of putting you all through undue stress over appearance and would like to assure you that the only reason he wished to keep his visit a surprise was so that he could observe first-hand exactly how this facility is run. He is satisfied with his findings and apologizes for any anxiety he may have inadvertently caused you all."

After that, a lot of the girls calmed down and sheepishly made their way back into the hallway where they stood politely and in a much more ladylike fashion. The Prime Minister remained with us about another fifteen minutes after that and then left us saying that any soldier sent to our facility would probably heal at least two times faster here than at any other makeshift hospital due to our training, efficiency and location. Some of the girls swore after the Prime Minister left that they saw Mr. Karci float from room to room in his delight at the high praise.

So, long story short, Karci House is now to become Karci hospital and while I hope you never have need of our services here, I can't help but think that if you were to be injured in training or battle it might be nice for you to be able to come back here…to all of us.

Yours truly,

Orihime Inoue

September 13

My Orihime,

Oh, how my heart longs to see you again! I can't begin to describe the absolute torture I go through every night as I lay awake remembering how beautiful your face is, reaching out to touch your soft cheek and feeling only empty air meeting my grasp. Oh, the agony!

Your letters are the only things keeping me going through these long hard months of training and the thought of having to stay away from you for who knows how long…it's simply heartrending. There are times since I read your letter that I have considered throwing myself from one of the buildings in order to break several bones, so that I can possibly be sent home to see you again, if only for a short time. Unfortunately, we do have our own medical facility, so unless I do something really drastic like burn it down, the likelihood that I will actually see you is…unlikely.

Now that I look over my letter again, I see that it sets a tone that I might to something desperate in my depression over not being able to see you, my sweet. Do not fret for me, my angel; I cannot imagine doing anything destructive to myself and leaving you desolate. After this war, I hope and pray that only death will separate us ever again, but I intend to spend many long and happy years with you, peerless perfection of maidenhood, before reaching that threshold.

So, with all the love I possess, my darling, I remain ever and always your loving slave,

The lonely Iymo

September 16

Dear Iymo,

Your letter was very sweet, but I'm sorry to be causing you so much distress over our separation due to your enlistment and my education. I also apologize that I can't do more than try and encourage and cheer you up with my letters, but I suppose that they will have to do for the time being. Actually, I am going to have to keep this one short as I want to send it out right away, but I don't have much time to finish it.

Please know that I keep you in my thoughts and I pray for your safety as you work hard to improve yourself and I only hope that over time the pain you feel will dwindle as you follow your calling.

Yours truly,

Orihime Inoue

September 18

Orihime, I can hardly describe to you the utter embarrassment I find myself in right now as I write to tell you that I did not write that letter you most recently received and I only just realized the mistake when your letter arrived today. As soon as I opened and read the letter, I was utterly confused until I glanced up to see my roommates covering their mouths in an attempt to stifle their grins and laughter. In case you don't remember, the other men occupying my bunkhouse are Uminu and Chad as well as Keni, Sami and and Gean (-for my readers-these characters are going to be like Kensei, Shinji and Gin, just fyi-). That was when Uminu told me that they had intercepted my original response letter and had written one of their own, which they had copied in order for me to read exactly what they had told you. Needless to say, my bellowing and chasing them around the camp got us all in trouble with the General and we were all punished.

The punishment itself was nothing of great importance, however, the General demanded to know how a simple piece of paper had caused so much discord within his camp. Once he had read the letter, I hoped the whole thing would be finished, but instead he ordered the entire Division to stand in formation on the parade grounds as he read the letter aloud for all to hear.

I only write this to you to warn you of any future letters you might receive from people in my Division wishing to hear from you as well and possibly ask for a photograph to see if you are really as beautiful as Uminu's description. I have tried to appeal to the General on this matter, but he merely told me that he had no business restricting whom the men wrote to on their free time. As a result, you are once again to fall victim to one of Uminu's supposedly 'harmless' pranks and all I can do is apologize and hope that you are not preyed upon by my comrades for very long. They really are great guys for the most part, but when it comes to things of this nature, the only word I can use to describe them is 'imbeciles'.

I've been told that I will look back on this incident in the future and laugh about the whole thing. I can only hope that we will both be able to do so someday.

Again, I am sorry about the whole thing and I will try to make sure that my comrades don't bother you too much if they do send you letters.

Sincerely,

Iymo Karci

**Author's Note:**

I think these letters were my favorite ones to create and I hope you agree with me.


	33. Letter of explanation

The Common Thread: Part 33 Letters

Exchanging Letters: Part 3

October 20

Dear Iymo,

I'm glad to hear that you are settling in nicely at your new post. While all of us here would be more comfortable knowing where you are stationed, at the very least I am grateful that the army is still allowing you to send us letters from wherever you are. We received the picture of your entire Division in the last letter you sent before you left for the battlefront and I disagree with you completely. Even though you are not smiling exactly, you certainly aren't scowling you just seem to be…focused and determined are the only words I can use to describe your expression. I'm just glad you thought about doing a picture exchange of everyone in your Division, sending it to us here at Karci Hospital while we sent you a picture of everyone here so that your comrades could see everybody here as well. Now I will be able to call your comrades by name when you all come home and you all will be able to greet us properly upon your return.

I'm just glad of the chance to be able to sit down and write you this letter, to be perfectly honest. I should feel ashamed for writing and complaining to you about how tired I am when you are out there fighting day and night in order to protect your country. Your line of work is so much more difficult on the mind, body and spirit of all the patients I'm working with right now are any indicator. Some of the stories the soldiers tell us are so…intense, I can't imagine how you manage to keep your spirits up in such situations. I hope you know that after hearing those stories, I have a greater respect and admiration for the work and sacrifice you are to this cause.

On a different note, there was an interesting incident that happened the other day that I would like to explain in my letter before you come to any hasty conclusions based on correspondence you might receive from your father or sisters. Just let me preface the story by saying the soldier in question came in with a serious head injury, so I don't think he is entirely responsible for his actions as he is still recovering. To be perfectly honest, I don't understand how he managed to…but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning.

Earlier this week, a train came in with injured soldiers who had been fighting near the border of France. There was one soldier (I don't think I will include the name of the soldier, just in case…) who had suffered a severe head injury in the fighting and had remained in a coma since the incident. We had been treating him for two days and he had shown no signs of change until the evening when Nano went in to check his vital signs and discovered that he was nowhere to be found. She immediately alerted everyone else about the patient's disappearance and we all began to search the hospital in earnest. I was searching out on the grounds with Nano, Rinu, Kyan and Yiru when I suddenly heard Kyan call out that she had found him. We were all making our way to where we had heard Kyan's voice when we heard her cry out in alarm. I was the first one to reach her and found the missing patient wrapping his arms around Kyan's shoulders in order to embrace her. Kyan and I reacted in the same way in that we both stood completely still for a few moments, too shocked to completely understand what was going on. We both snapped out of our stupor when Nano arrived and yelled at the man to let go of Kyan before she called the police.

The man turned to Nano and I felt that something was off when he said, "You can't take her away from me. You'll never separate us again!"

Kyan managed to snap out of her stupor and yank herself away from the patient before she rounded on him and demanded, "Just who do you think you are? You can't just go around grabbing at girls you don't know and expect them not to be upset!"

The man looked confused and hurt by Kyan's outburst and said quietly, "What have they done to you? Don't you remember me?"

Kyan looked as confused as everyone else but managed to ask, "What are you talking about?"

The man asked, "Lilia, don't you know who I am?"

At this Kyan blinked before understanding flooded her face and she said gently, "Um, I don't know who this Lilia person is, but my name is Kyan."

The man looked aghast as he said, "Oh no. They've not only taken me out of your life, but they've managed to extract me from your memory as well. Lilia, it's me. Can't you remember your own fiancé?"

None of us knew how to respond at first until I stepped forward and said, "Sir, I'm sorry to have to say this, but I think you are confusing my friend with someone else. You were recently wounded an-"

Looking back, it probably would have been a better idea to let one of the others try and negotiate with the patient, but hindsight is 20/20…

"Of course I was wounded!" the man cried, "You all took my Lilia away from me! If she stays here any longer, she'll never have a chance to remember me!"

As you well know, once Kyan is given a chance to regain her wits, she is a very formidable opponent against anyone whose aim is to make her do something she has no wish or desire to do. Needless to say, the patient's second attempt at persuasion was quickly met with a swift punch to the jaw and a swiping kick to knock the soldier on his back. He was dazed long enough for us to transport him back inside the hospital and have him strapped to his bed before he regained his senses. When he awoke, he was much more docile and asked us politely why he was restrained in his bed. We were quite surprised to discover that he had no memory of the occurrence and told us the last thing he remembered was a bright flash and debris falling all around him before something hit him hard in the back.

After thinking back to our first conversation with the patient, I realized what had bothered me at the time. The patient's eyes had been glazed over and his voice was rather monotonic. I related this information to the others and we all came to the conclusion that the patient had been hallucinating or reliving a memory and had not been fully conscious during the confrontation. I tell you all this so that if you are sent a letter from your father describing how Kyan has a new lover or from someone else saying that one of the patients wishes to elope with her, you will now understand their joke. Just like Uminu, people will have fun at other people's expense. One thing they forget is that what goes around comes around…

Anyway, I do hope that this letter will find you safe and sound. You're going to think me silly, but I enclosed a lock of my hair tied with a ribbon since I heard some of the other students say that such small tokens from us here on the home front are treasured by soldiers who would otherwise have no other keepsakes to help them keep their hope alive. I know you now have the picture of all of us here, but I thought…that maybe you would want…something of mine, besides just letters.

Stay safe.

Yours truly,

Orihime Inoue


	34. The final, fateful letter

The Common Thread: Part 34

The Final Letter

Orihime couldn't breathe. There was absolutely no way…it just couldn't be right. Everyone around her seemed to believe the small black letters were telling the truth, but Orihime refused to take them seriously. People often make mistakes when writing out messages. Hadn't she sent letters to Iymo when she was tired only to realize later that she had barely formed a recognizable sentence? She held on to the belief that someone somewhere had made a grievous error and that very soon someone would come with another message apologizing for the mix-up. Mustering all her courage, Orihime looked at the telegram for a second time to make sure that she had read it correctly.

It read, "We regret to inform you that your son, Lt. Iymo Karci, was wounded in battle. He was taken to the army hospital where he was treated for his wounds, but he died hours after arriving. The hospital where your son was taken was attacked and demolished by enemy troops and as a result, we have no concrete remains to send home for you to bury. We have erected a temporary marker for all the lost soldiers with every intention of creating a more permanent monument in honor of your son's sacrifice as well as his comrades'."

Two other telegrams revealed a similar fate had befallen Uminu and Chad alike. Three deaths. Tears formed in Orihime's eyes as she looked around the room at all the mourning faces of the Karci family as well as Rinu and Nano, but the tears refused to fall as somewhere deep in Orihime's soul, she sensed Iymo's presence. He was alive and well, fighting alongside Uminu and Chad somewhere. She sensed, she believed and she knew Iymo was still alive and that he was fighting as hard as he could so he could come home and show them just how wrong those telegrams were.

For the sake of propriety though, Orihime thought it would be best if she went through the motions of mourning Iymo, Uminu and Chad's deaths by wearing black along with everyone else and attending their memorial service held the next day with all of Cranbury Village coming out to Karci House/Hospital to grieve over the loss of three fine young men. Time and again throughout the service, Orihime wanted to jump to her feet and yell at the top of her lungs that no one needed to shed a single tear because the telegrams were wrong and those fine young men were still alive somewhere, but she swallowed the words every single time knowing in her heart that no one would believe her and would only think of her as the distraught girlfriend of poor Iymo who could not cope with reality and merely pity her.

Someday, Iymo and the others would come back, she just knew it. Their arrival could be anytime from next week to five years to twenty years in the future and Orihime would still wait patiently for him to return. Just as in Karakura Town, even if she couldn't be with Ichigo all the time physically, just living in the same town and going to the same school was enough for her to feel…complete. Even though Iymo was nowhere near Cranbury Village, just staying here with the Karci's, in the home that Iymo grew up in and where she had come to know him…it was enough for now until his return.

The next day a letter arrived that further convinced her of Iymo's survival. It read as follows.

December 27

Dear Orihime,

My dear Orihime…

Right now I'm looking at the words that just appeared on the paper and my face is burning as I realize just how possessive they sound…but they just flowed out of me so naturally. Let me explain.

I've known you know for over a year, about half of that time we have been reaching across countries in order to get to know each other better and I don't know how, but I feel as if I know you even better because of that fact. By the time you receive this letter, we will have reached a new year and new years often are a time to make resolutions or plans for what you intend to do in the future. For some reason, I have not been able to shake the feeling that I need to share my resolution with you right now rather than after the new year or when I come home, so here goes nothing.

I love you Orihime and I have since we knocked heads when I broke my arm all those months ago. While I won't know for sure until you write me back, I believe that you are in love with me as well. Even though I might seem to be jumping to conclusions, I have been giving this some serious thought since just before I left to enlist in the army. Personally, I had decided to wait until I came home for good before I approached you about this, but just like with pulling you aside into the classroom to ask you about how you felt about me and telling you how I felt, I now feel that I should just go ahead and ask so that when I come back things can move forward.

So, as silly as I feel putting these words down on paper rather than asking you in person (I promise to rectify this point immediately upon my arrival), I want to ask you if you, Orihime Inoue, would agree to become my wife.

You are a special person, Orihime, and I have come to see that through your letters and from the brief time I got to spend with you at Karci House. I love you. I've never said these words to you in person, but I am writing them now because that is the best I can do for the time being. I love you.

I have to go, but I hope to hear from you soon.

Until then, I remain sincerely and lovingly yours,

Iymo


	35. The return

The Common Thread: Part 35

"C'mon you guys! We don't have all day! The train arrives in an hour and we need time to get everything ready before our patients arrive."

"If you're so anxious to get out the door, wouldn't it be a better idea to actually help us with all these supplies rather than just standing there?"

"What's all this racket? Oh, it's just you two."

"And just what is that supposed to mean, Kyan?"

"It means that even though you two have been here for almost two years, I still can't get used to the sound of you two shrieking at each other like a couple of deranged banshees."

"Kyan, that wasn't very nice."

"Your sister is right, Kyan. Keep that unkind behavior up and your soldier boyfriend might fall out of love with you."

"What did you just say?"

"You heard me."

Orihime figured that she had better step in now and break up this argument before things got ugly. She sighed as she thought about all the times she had hoped that her friends would be able to find peaceful resolutions on their own, but as of yet, they still needed a mediator to control the situation.

Holding up her hands in a calming gesture, Orihime said, "Now, now, there's no need to be so unkind to one another. We're all tired and worn out from the last group of wounded soldiers who came in for treatment."

Nano rubbed her head and let out a long breath as she said, "You're right, Orihime. That was an unusually large amount of soldiers coming in all at once and they were all in serious need of advanced treatment."

Rinu shook her head ruefully as she said, "And not a reasonably good looking one in the entire bunch."

Kyan folded her arms and rolled her eyes as she said, "Leave it to you to be so shallow when it comes to taking care of patients. If she ever develops her own practice, you'd better be good looking or she might not give you proper care."

Before Rinu could shout in protest, Orihime stepped in between the two girls saying, "Here Rinu, why don't you give me a hand taking that box of bandages out to the car?"

Rinu bent to help Orihime without complaint, but Orihime clearly saw the pointed look Rinu gave Kyan before walking out the door with Orihime.

Orihime gave a mental sigh as she sat down inside the car when all the medical supplies had been loaded. While she was grateful that everyone had basically moved forward in life and were not quite as desolate as they had been when they received the news of Iymo, Uminu and Chad's 'demise', now they were back to their old selves and the playful banter and all around arguing had returned full force. There were still a few times when someone would become abnormally quiet for a few minutes and everyone knew the wisest course of action was to leave that person to their thoughts. Despite the fact that Orihime knew for sure that he was alive, she had moments when she would become unusually depressed thinking about Iymo and wondering if he really was alive. If she were anyone else, Orihime would probably have said that to believe that someone was alive simply based on a feeling rather than hard evidence was a bunch of hogwash. However, she had seen and experienced so many things that simply could not be explained or proven with hard evidence in the 'real world'.

"Orihime, oh Orihime," came the sound of Rinu's voice from the driver's seat.

Orihime was about to respond as she pulled herself out of her thoughts, but Nano whispered to Rinu, "Don't disturb her right now, Rinu. She's got that look on her face."

Rinu paused for a moment before she said in a soft, sad voice, "I see. The poor girl, she's still not over him, is she?"

Orihime didn't want to eavesdrop, but something inside her said she should just sit still and stare out the window as Nano responded, "Well, it's almost May, so almost five months have passed, but a relationship like they had…I don't think five months is enough."

"Especially due to the fact that he proposed to her."

"Wait a minute…Iymo proposed to Orihime? Are you serious?"

"Don't you remember? When the telegrams came, Iymo's final letter arrived as well. In it he proposed to her. It was very sweet. I told you all about it later that night."

"You're right, you did tell me, but I never heard Orihime say anything about it, so I forgot."

"Well, can you blame the girl? She receives news that her boyfriend is dead just before she gets a final letter from him asking for her hand. Actually, it's better that she got the telegram first so she didn't tell everyone and then have her heart broken all the more by all the pitying looks she would have gotten at the memorial service."

"I guess you're right. Still, don't you think it's a little odd that she didn't cry more at the memorial or even since that time? I always thought it was because it was just too much to absorb all at once and after all was said and done she would call us over in order to have a big cry session to help heal her broken heart, but I've never seen her shed more than a tear or two at a time and even then she doesn't look all that depressed."

"What are you trying to say, Nano? That she didn't really love him? Don't you remember that she lost her brother and only family member a few years ago and she told us how she cried herself to sleep for months? While this isn't quite the same, I would imagine that she knows how to carry her grief better and maybe she doesn't want to burden us with her problems until she's worked them out for herself. When she's ready, she'll come to us, just you wait."

Orihime closed her eyes as she thought about what she had just heard. More than anything in the world, Orihime wanted to explain to her friends her intuition's knowledge of Iymo's safety and to beg them to forgive her for not confiding in them sooner, but something held her back. Her instinct said that she would soon be able to reveal her secret to the entire Karci residence and to be patient until then.

Upon their arrival at the train station, Orihime cheerfully helped Rinu and Nano set up a kind of make-shift examination area to look over the patients who would soon arrive and determine what kind of treatment they would receive upon arrival at Karci Hospital. This was not their first time setting up 'shop' and so things moved along quickly giving Orihime, Rinu and Nano plenty of time to laugh, talk and joke with each other and friendly employees at the train station.

"So Mr. Crandon how is your daughter-in-law and son? Their baby should be coming any day now."

A man of about fifty with silver hair streaked with a few remnants of the original dark chocolate brown strands with a pleasant smile and sparkling emerald eyes who was the janitor of sorts for the station became very animated when he replied to Orihime's inquiry, "Oh yes, the baby could come right now and the boss said that should anything happen I can cut out early to go and greet my new grandchild. I've never seen my Patrick so excited in his life. It's their first and he is positively convinced that it will be a little girl. Una rolls her eyes and says that the baby will most definitely be a bouncing, colicky boy just like his father."

Nano looked surprised as she said, "Well, that's the first time I've heard something like that."

Rinu asked, "Like what?"

Nano shrugged her shoulders as she replied, "Not to be whatever, but usually it's the other way around. The father wants a boy and the mother desires a girl. It's not always that way, but for the firstborn both parents usually want a boy so they either have an heir if they are wealthy or if they are tradesmen, a boy to carry on the family business."

Rinu looked thoughtful as she said, "I guess you're right there," her face then took on a dreamy look, "Well, it's very romantic that Patrick says he wants a girl who looks just like her mother."

Nano shook her head with an amused look on her face as Rinu let out a long sigh, which caused Orihime to grin before she turned back to Mr. Crandon and said, "I'm glad to hear they're doing well. Do you know if they need anything else? It's been about a week since I last saw Una and I'm sure she's getting to the point where she can't do as much anymore and I told her to let me know if she needed anything, but I haven't heard from her…"

Mr. Crandon reached out and gently grasped Orihime's hand as he said, "Ms. Orihime, my Patrick and his wife told me specifically to let you know that they greatly appreciate all your help these past few weeks and that they would hate to impose on you, but they would love to have you come over to help after the baby is born, if it wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience for you, that is."

Orihime beamed at Mr. Crandon as she said, "I would be delighted to help anytime!"

Mr. Crandon was about to reply when they all turned at the sound of a train whistle sounding in the distance and said instead, "Well, it's five minutes late, as usual. I'd better leave you young ladies to your work. I'll be sure to send Linus and Rick over to help oversee the patients."

Rinu waved at the kind man as she said, "Thank you so much, Mr. Crandon."

In the moments before the train came to a stop, Rinu looked back at Nano and Orihime, grinned and said, "Well, here we go again."

As soon as the train came to a complete stop, things erupted into controlled chaos. Almost all the cars were filled with injured soldiers who all needed to have their wounds assessed in order to make a preliminary diagnosis as to what treatment they would be given on their arrival at the hospital, unless they were staying on the train and going to the hospital at the next stop, so they also had to make sure that all the disembarking patients were actually supposed to come to Karci Hospital.

Orihime was trying to deal with all the patients in wheelchairs and getting them off the train with the help of the train medical staff who had been escorting and taking care of the soldiers up to this point and was asking one of the doctors, "According to my list, we are also treating Sergeant Hamilton Sanders. What is his condition, Dr. Keinto?"

Dr. Keinto was a fairly young doctor who was just under thirty years old, yet acted like he was a fifteen year old hormonal teenager. Orihime had dealt with him in the past and she tried to ignore his meaningful glances that he sent her way every so often and she put up with it since he had never tried to touch her or harass her in any way. As long as she stayed professional and task-oriented, Orihime figured that Dr. Keinto would as well. Today, she would be sadly mistaken.

The doctor made a small step to the left to come closer to Orihime's right shoulder as he said, "Sergeant Sanders…Sergeant Sanders…he's on my list somewhere…ah, here he is. Sergeant Sanders is wheelchair bound due to a bomb explosion. Shrapnel became imbedded all over his body and doctors on the field removed as much as they possibly could, but they believe some pieces have penetrated deep enough to touch the bone."

When he moved to flip a page from his files, his arm brushed against Orihime and she decided to ignore it and moved on to the next patient.  
>When they had finally confirmed and checked all the patients, Orihime turned to Dr. Keinto and said, "Thank you for your help, doctor."<p>

Dr. Keinto began to reply when suddenly he looked very surprised and stumbled forward as if someone or something had bumped into him. Orihime did not know how to react and before she knew what was going on, Dr. Keinto fell into her and the two of them started toppling towards the pavement with Orihime underneath Dr. Keinto. He reacted quickly and grabbed Orihime around the waist and managed somehow to flip around so that his back struck the ground and Orihime collapsed on top of him. Despite the good doctor selflessly cushioning her fall, Orihime still had the breath knocked painfully out of her for a few moments. Surprised cries filled the air and before she could regain her composure, more people than she had thought possible had swarmed around them all talking in concerned voices at the top of their lungs so that Orihime could not even manage a coherent thought.

It wasn't until Dr. Keinto shifted underneath her that Orihime snapped back to her senses and promptly began to struggle to her feet saying, "I'm so sorry, Dr. Keinto! Are you all right?"

Dr. Keinto placed a firm hand on Orihime's shoulder to still her before he said, "I'm just fine. I'm just glad I was able to prevent you from hurting yourself too badly in the fall."

During this exchange the voices had died down somewhat so Orihime was now able to hear Rinu and Nano's voices calling out for her from the back of the crowd so she turned and responded, "I'm just fine! And so is Dr. Keinto!"

Looking at the crowd around her, Orihime could not help the blush rising in her cheeks as she tried to think of what to say in order to assure them that they were both fine and could get back to whatever they had been doing before. Again, she was saved by Dr. Keinto when he said in a magnanimous tone that he had made sure to keep the beautiful Nurse Inoue from harm but that she needed space and air in order to recover fully. Fortunately, everyone took the hint and quickly dispersed until only Rinu and Nano remained with Orihime and Dr. Keinto. Finally, Orihime managed to convince Rinu and Nano that she was perfectly fine and that the patients still needed to be attended too, so they reluctantly went back to work.

Orihime turned one last time to thank Dr. Keinto when she discovered that he was almost uncomfortably close to her, but she swallowed the nervous feeling welling up in her stomach and said with a smile, "Well, I have to get back to work, but thank you again for your help. I can be quite clumsy at times and I hope I didn't hurt you too much in the fall."

Dr. Keinto leaned in close to Orihime's ear and said, "I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat, but let's cut to the chase, shall we?"

Orihime blinked at Dr. Keinto in confusion as he continued, "You are a very attractive woman, Nurse Inoue, and I wouldn't mind getting to know you…much better in the near future. What do you say?"

Despite the fact that it was the last thing she had expected to hear from Dr. Keinto, Orihime recovered her wits quickly and said in a firm yet kind voice, "As kind as your offer is, Dr. Keinto, I have to tell you that my heart is already spoken for."

The response he gave Orihime was unlike anything she had ever heard before, "Who said anything about wanting to win your heart? I just want to get to know…your person, if you know what I mean."

Completely taken aback by his response, Dr. Keinto seemed to take Orihime's silence as a sign that she was considering his proposition and so continued, "After I'm finished dropping off the rest of these soldiers, I can come back here for a few days before I have to go back to London, so we coul-"

Orihime interrupted Dr. Keinto with an upraised hand as she said, "I am going to rephrase my earlier statement and tell you that I have no interest in developing any relationship, attachment or any other term you would use to describe what you desire to have me in any way shape or form. Outside of dealing with you here in public where I can be quite sure that any action or advance you make towards me that is questionable in its decency will be met with swiftly and severely, I have no wish or desire to see you at all."

"Excuse me, let me get this straight. You're actually turning me down?"

Orihime gave him an uncharacteristically condescending look as she said, "Don't make me repeat myself. Good day, Dr. Keinto. I have other patients to attend too."

As she turned to leave, Orihime found her progress hindered by a hard hand roughly squeezing her arm and she heard Dr. Keinto grind out, "Nobody refuses me, do you understand?"

Orihime did not bother to look back at him as she replied, "I just did. Now let me go."

When he didn't let go, Orihime started preparing to kick him in the shin and call out for help when a firm and very familiar voice called out, "Hey! Let her go, you creep!"

Orihime heard Dr. Keinto turn in order to address the other person but she didn't have to turn around to know that any protest about to escape Dr. Keinto's lips had died when the same voice said, "Let her go right now, if you know what's good for you. And if I catch you bothering her again, let's just say it will be a while before your face will be healed enough to try and seduce any other women."

The painful pressure around Orihime's arm was released and she heard footsteps retreating as she turned and looked at her rescuer as he said, "Are you all right?"

Tears welled up in Orihime's eyes as she visually confirmed what she had known all along. Iymo was standing before her, alive and well. Well being a relative term as he had a rather bloody bandage wrapped around his head and his left arm once again broken and in a cast. Despite these facts, Orihime could not hide the absolute joy and relief flooding her face and heart as she took in the sight of Iymo standing before her looking at her with long missed look of concern for her wellbeing.

Instead of answering his question verbally, Orihime nearly jumped into Iymo's arms and did the first instinctual thing that came to her mind: she kissed him full on the lips. Wrapping her arms around Iymo's neck, Orihime took the liberty of running her fingers gently through his hair to see if it was really as soft as she had thought it was and she discovered that she had been right all along. It was several seconds before Orihime pulled away and looked into Iymo's face.

Iymo looked completely dumbfounded for a few moments before he managed, "Well, I've never been thanked quite like that before. Glad I could be of service."

Orihime was slightly taken aback from the response, but smiled and said, "I'm sorry for being so bold, Iymo. It's…I've missed you so much, but I knew you were alive and now you're back and…it's so good to see you back safe."

Before Iymo could say anything, Orihime noticed two other familiar faces making their way towards them and promptly greeted them saying, "Uminu! Chad! You're back!"

Uminu's face had looked slightly pained as he had been walking up, but at Orihime's greeting his face had lit up as he replied, "Well, it looks like someone suspected we were alive all this time since you don't seem all that surprised to see us alive and well despite receiving those telegrams."

Orihime blushed as she said, "Yeah, I just knew somehow that you were all still safe. Especially after I got the last letter from Iymo, I just knew that he wouldn't send me something like that and then not come home."

Iymo had been looking at Uminu and Chad in confusion before he turned to Orihime and said something that nearly made her heart stop.

"I'm really sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but do I know you?"


	36. Moving forward

The Common Thread: Part 36

"Mum! It's good to see you too, but I can't breathe!"

"Iymo! My boy!"

"AH! Too tight! Too tight!"

"Oh, Uminu and Chad, come over here!"

"It's good to see you as well, Mrs. Karci. Ouch!"

"My boy and his friends are home safe! I don't know what happened out there, but I have a funny feeling that you two helped bring my boy home safe and sound, so I don't think I can ever thank you enough!"

"Oh, you could start by allowing my hand to regain some feeling…"

All throughout the rest of the day, people came from all over Cranbury when they heard the news that the three brave young men had 'come back from the dead' at first to disprove the impossible rumors only to discover the reality of the heartrending miracle. As such, Iymo, Uminu and Chad had to endure similar reactions to what they had received from the Karci family and staff at the hospital. By the end of the day, it would not have been much of an exaggeration to say that the fine young men were far more exhausted by all the fuss made over them than when they had fought in the army. However, as bone tired as they were at the end of the day, no one could mistake the looks of happiness and contentment on the young soldiers faces.

After all the curious and ecstatic visitors were kindly thanked for their concern and seen to the door, everyone else sat down to a very satisfying dinner. Mr. and Mrs. Karci asked Iymo, Uminu, Chad, Orihime, Kyan, Yiru, Rinu and Nano to join them in the sitting room once they had finished the exquisite meal. Once everyone was comfortable settled in the room, Mr. and Mrs. Karci exchanged a look before Mr. Karci began.

"I realize that today has been a long day for you three and I promise this little gathering will not last any longer than it has too. I believe though, that everyone here is highly anxious to hear the story, if you think you can manage to relate to us what happened."

Uminu nodded and looked at Iymo and Chad before he said, "Well, I guess that means that I'll have to play storyteller then since obviously Iymo is not exactly prepared or capable of relating any details of our adventures and Chad is…well, you know how he is. Where should I begin?"

Kyan folded her arms and looked seriously at Uminu as she said, "Normally one would start from the very beginning, but in this case since we did get letters from you guys up until we received those telegrams, why don't you explain exactly why you guys or your superiors or whoever thought it was a good idea to send us those false telegrams?"

Uminu nodded and looked at the floor as he said, "That would make the most sense. As you have probably figured out by now, those telegrams were faked and while Iymo, Chad and I did know they were being sent out, it was completely out of our control. They were sent out because our division was being sent on a top secret mission and if anything happened to us while we were on the mission, either killed or captured, we were not supposed to technically exist. Because we completed our mission successfully, due to its high risk, we were allowed to go home early. Also, Iymo was seriously wounded along with myself, so that solidified our opportunity to go home."

Rinu cut in, "Wait a minute, you were wounded too, Uminu?"

A resigned look crossed Uminu's face as he said, "Yeah, I was."

Before anyone could ask, Uminu gently reached over with his right hand to roll up the sleeve covering his left arm a little way, just enough to reveal a bandage wrapped around his arm. He carefully unwound the bandage slightly, to expose skin and flesh that had been badly burned. Since everyone there were of the medical occupation, this sight did not turn anyone's stomach in the slightest. However, because they were professionals, they could tell at a glance how serious the wound truly was.

Again, before anyone could ask the next most obvious question, Uminu said, "I can't give you any details as to how Iymo and I came by our respective wounds, but I speak on behalf of both of us when I say that we would do it all over again without any hesitation. After our mission was completed, we were taken to an army hospital where we were given enough treatment to prepare us for the journey home. Iymo was unconscious when he arrived and when he woke up, we quickly discovered the loss of his memory. It took us a while to explain where he was and what he was doing there and we eventually figured out that he had lost a little over two years of his memory when he said that the last thing he remembered doing was getting ready for his dad's surprise 40th birthday party that had been scheduled, according to him, for the following week."

Iymo rubbed his temple as he looked at the floor and mumbled, "I feel like I've forgotten something extremely important…what is it?"

As Iymo's voice was barely audible, only two people heard his comment before Uminu finished, "And now we're back home. Man, because we have to omit more than half the story due to national security, it really sounds kind of lame."

Mrs. Karci shook her head as she said, "Personally, I'd rather not hear about all the hardships you boys went through. As a mother to Iymo and a kind of mother figure to both you and Chad, I'd rather not think about how you boys suffered during your time of service. On a different note, you showed us your own wounds Uminu and it is quite obvious were Iymo is hurt, but you never said anything about Chad's wounds."

Uminu grinned as he replied, "Chad came home because he was also immensely helpful in that little incident our division was involved in and because he wanted to come home with us and told the higher ups so. However, because he had no serious wounds besides a few deep cuts and some bruises and due to the fact that he was such an important asset to the army, they were highly reluctant to terminate his tour of duty so soon. They were about to come up some lame excuse to keep Chad around when General Zakaki stepped in and demanded that Chad be sent home with Iymo and me. Once the General got involved, the matter was settled."

Mrs. Karci smiled at Uminu and Chad as she said, "And we are grateful that such important men could be made to see reason on all your behalves. From what I hear, the war seems to be rapidly coming to a close in our favor, so more brave soldiers should be coming home to their loved ones."

Chad spoke up, "We fought as hard as we did knowing we were keeping our loved ones safe in order to come home to them."

Nodding Mrs. Karci stood up and said, "Well put Chad. And now, I think it is high time that you hard-working soldiers get your well-earned rest. I'll be sure to tell the rest of the house to rise quietly in the morning to make sure you can get enough rest to help you recover more rapidly."

As they made their way towards the door, Orihime found her progress impeded by a hand gently grasping her wrist. When she turned, she met the concerned gaze of Uminu, who put a hand to his lips and Orihime understood that he wished her to remain behind for a few moments. Fortunately, she had been one of the last to get up from their seats, so she merely waited until everyone else had filed through the doors before she turned to Uminu with a questioning look.

Uminu looked away for a few moments and inhaled slowly and deeply before he said, "I can't begin to tell you how much I longed to come home and see all of you safe and sound and yet dreaded what was to come when we finally arrived. Every time I looked over at Iymo staring mindlessly out of the window of the train, I felt my heart drop into my stomach when I thought about how he wouldn't remember you and how you might react and…"

Uminu massaged his forehead and looked at the floor as he said, "Almost immediately after Chad and I figured out that Iymo had lost all his memories of you, we left and discussed whether we should send you a letter or not. Unfortunately, that choice was never one we could make as the next day Iymo and I were declared to be fit for travel and we set out. On the train, I resolved to find you and talk to you immediately upon our arrival either at the station or here, but Iymo found you first."

Finally, Uminu seemed to summon enough courage to look Orihime in the eyes as he said, "In light of all you've been through today and despite the fact that it doesn't change anything, I just want to tell you how very sorry I am that things turned out like this."

Orihime had stood quietly during Uminu's entire speech, not moving or changing her expression from one of attentive listening. When he finished, she gave Uminu a small smile and reached out to take his left hand in her right and gently laid her left hand over his upper left arm burns covered by his shirt.

She was quiet for a time before she said in a soft voice, "Even though you can't give us any details about what happened to you and Iymo, I know that you received these wounds protecting Iymo's life. He was wounded protecting whoever your division had been charged with saving from the enemy and when Iymo was unable to defend himself anymore, you stepped in and saved him. Don't ask me how I know this and I will never press you for the details, but please know that I appreciate and will be forever grateful to you for saving Iymo's life. On behalf of his family as well, thank you for everything."

As she finished, Orihime gently placed her hands on either side of Uminu's face, prompting him to lower his face so that she could give him a tender kiss on the cheek before she wrapped her arms around Uminu's neck and gave him a grateful embrace which he gently returned. Neither one knew how long they stood there, but eventually they mutually let go of one another at which time Orihime gave Uminu one last smile before she quietly left the room. Uminu remained in that room a while longer staring thoughtfully out the window before nodding his head emphatically and walking towards his room.

As for Orihime, after she exited the room, she walked slowly down the halls towards her room, not really thinking about anything in particular when a hand impeded her progress down the hall. Since this had happened to her countless times before, Orihime barely even flinched when a warm hand enveloped her own slightly chilled hand. Looking behind her, Orihime's face put on a bright smile as she recognized Rinu, who had a concerned expression on her face, with Nano standing behind her looking just as worried.

Instinctively wanting to quell their unknown fears, Orihime said sweetly, "I'm sorry if I made you worry. Uminu just had a few things that he wanted to discuss with me and I didn't think to ask you two to stay since you both looked so tired after today. You both were so busy at the train station and I barely did anything after that incident with Dr. Keinto, so I'm sorry about that. I promise that I will make it up to you both."

As Orihime had been talking Rinu had given Nano a meaningful look and Nano had nodded her head in assent, as if giving Rinu permission to continue, to which Rinu responded by turning back to Orihime, placing her hands on the shorter girl's shoulders and asking, "Orihime, are you all right?"

Orihime blinked in a confused manner before a look of understanding crossed her face and she said hurriedly, "Oh, Dr. Keinto didn't really hurt me and you know that we've dealt with similar creeps before here at the hospital. I promise that I will steer clear of him from now on."

Rinu looked at Orihime sternly as she said, "That's not what I meant and you know it. Ever since we got back from the train station this afternoon, you've said barely a word. There is no way something like this can't affect you. Now I realize why you never really cried over Iymo's 'death'. It was because you never really believed that he was dead. Some people can just tell and you must be one of them."

Orihime looked at the floor as she said, "There were so many times that I wanted to tell you both, but I just could never come up with the right words."

Nano stepped forward and said, "We understand. For someone like me, we need hard evidence in order to believe something is true and if you had said that you just knew that Iymo was alive because of some feeling that you had, as much as I love you, I would have thought you were merely using that as a way to cope with losing the man you loved and who had died not long after asking you to marry him."

Rinu continued, "We know Iymo proposed to you in his last letter. I read it a day or two later when I started to become suspicious about your not reacting very much at the memorial. I am sorry that I went through your letters, but I was really worried about you. As callous as this might sound, I'm really glad that you received that letter later because now it is only the three of us who know anything about it and we'll figure out what to do from here."

Stepping forward, Rinu wrapped her arms around Orihime and gently began massaging the back of Orihime's head and back in a soothing manner as she said, "For now, you need to let it all go. Just let it go, please."

Orihime reached up a hand to take hold of Rinu's arm when she felt Nano hug her from behind. At that point, the wall Orihime had built up around her heart, mind and soul that entire day collapsed immediately under Rinu and Nano's gentle and friendly attack. If her two friends had not been there to hold her up, Orihime would have fallen in a heap on the floor under the pressure of despair and hopelessness that had been gradually growing inside of her ever since her encounter with Iymo. For what seemed like hours, tears poured from her eyes, more than she could ever remember crying before. Hot, salty, stinging tears dropped without pause and sob after desperate sob was wrenched from the very bottom of her body and soul leaving her internal muscles sore, so that the pain she felt emotionally could be reflected physically as well. In the corner of her mind, Orihime could sense tears falling on the top of her head and the back of her shirt and knew that her friends were mourning with her. This warmed her broken heart more than any words could ever do in that moment.

Finally, when the tears began to abate and sleep to claim Orihime, she noticed that her friends had fallen asleep gently cradling her between them. Orihime smiled as she closed her eyes and thanked Heaven for such wonderful friends. Now that Orihime had finally been able to cry and release all her sorrow, she could clearly see what she had not been able to before. Iymo was not lost to her. He was alive and as long as she lived, she would love him. She remembered how she had resolved back in Karakura Town that she would wait for Ichigo as long as it took or support him and stand by him all her life no matter if he loved her or not. This situation was no different.

Where there is a will, there is a way. Where there is life and love, there is hope. Those were two principals that Orihime would hold dear to her heart in the coming days.

**Author's Note:**

I have to be perfectly honest that when I first saw the pictures drawn by nekosaiko (if you want a more thorough description of those pictures, there should be one back in chapter 1), the one from WWI with Ichigo's head wrapped in a bandage and the two of them sharing a kiss was the one that really resonated with me the most. For whatever reason, when I decided to write this story I knew I wanted to finish with this lifetime and really have Orihime's steadfast love tested in some way. As Orihime realized at the end, she hasn't completely lost Iymo and she loves him just as well as before, but to have the person you love completely forget about you cannot be easy (just so everyone knows, I wrote this a while before trailers for the movie 'The Vow' came out, so this was kind of my own idea). This last part is one that I spent a lot of time trying to get just right since I didn't want Orihime's or anyone's emotions or dialogue to seem unrealistic and so I hope it worked. I hope you enjoy and just remember, the story doesn't end here…


	37. Hopeful flickers

The Common Thread: Part 37

Deep breath in and let it out slowly, Orihime thought to herself.

After a rather long morning working with patients, Orihime was grateful for the opportunity to step outside for a few minutes. It was a beautiful late summer day and Orihime stretched her arms above her head and closed her eyes in order to enjoy the peace and quiet to the fullest extent.

It had been about three days since Iymo's return and while Orihime could see no possibility of that changing any time in the near future, but as she had resolved that night, Orihime would not allow such things to break her spirit or her love. While she did miss the small gestures of affection Iymo used to show towards her just before he left such as surreptitiously or sometimes boldly taking her hand with no better explanation given other than, "I just wanted too," to her or any other person who happened to observe the action, she told herself that she had no control over the past and there was only so much she could influence in the days ahead so 'whatever will be, will be'.

Orihime had been so deep in her reminiscing that she had failed to notice where she was going until she found herself standing in front of a very familiar object that normal people would not have found very saddening, but as people had pointed out to her before, Orihime was definitely no ordinary person. Fighting hard against the beginning pricks of tears stinging the corners of her eyes, Orihime laid a hand gently on the back of a bench she had not remembered until that very moment. Yanu Karci had brought Orihime to this very same bench during the Karci Ball in order to thank Orihime for, in a sense, saving her brother, Iano.

'You are a special person, Orihime. You are able to see things in people that no one else can see, or even if they can, you have the ability to affect those same people through touching some part of their heart and soul,' is what Yanu had said at the time and Orihime could not help but smile at the memory, despite the fact that she did not completely believe in Yanu's words at this point in time.

"You're being silly, Orihime," she scolded herself, while she furiously rubbed at her eyes in an attempt to push the tears back into her head, "You resolved not to let this turn of events get you down and yet here you are blubbering like the world is about to end. What is wrong with you? Why are you crying?"

"Is everything all right?"

Orihime jumped at the question and not surprisingly managed to get her feet tangled up for the first time in many months and begin to fall to the ground. As a part of her natural reaction to such a fright, Orihime instinctively turned to look at her surprise visitor as she fell even though she already knew who he was and knew exactly what would happen next. Even though everything happened exactly as she had predicted, all Orihime saw in the next few seconds was a brief flash of orange and brown before her body turned more so that she was facing the ground with her arms instinctively outstretched to cushion her inevitable fall. As predicted, her arms were spared the trouble of having to do any work by a different pair of strong arms wrapping themselves around Orihime's stomach. Without thinking, Orihime's hands covered her rescuers as she turned her head to look him in the eyes.

Neither spoke for a minute or so until Iymo took the initiative and asked, "Are you all right?"

Orihime gave him a warm yet sheepish smile as she said, "Yes, I'm perfectly fine, thanks to you. You've always been there right at the moment I needed you the most."

Iymo shook his head as he said, "If you're referring to the jerk doctor incident, anyone would have done the same."

Before Orihime could say anything, Iymo seemed to realize he was still holding Orihime, apologized with a slightly red face and hastily but kindly helped Orihime to stand upright again. Once he had done so, Iymo's expression took on an expression of frustration and Orihime inquired if Iymo was feeling all right.

It took several tries before Iymo was finally able to put his jumbled thoughts into words as he said, "It's just that…I don't know how to describe it…I have this feeling that I'm missing something very important to me and when I just held you, the feeling became so much more…potent, I suppose."

Looking at Orihime very seriously, Iymo said, "I don't know what is wrong with me, but these past couple of days, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you. For some reason, I have sense that what I'm missing has something to do with you."

Scratching his head in an irritated manner, Iymo said, "I know this sounds completely ludicrous and I can't even believe that I'm actually saying these stupid, crazy ideas out loud, but I just have this sense that I need to tell you everything…before it's too late."

Orihime asked in a concerned voice, "Too late for what?"

Iymo rubbed his forehead as he said, "Before I lose whatever it is that I'm trying to find…or remember."

Orihime reached up and took Iymo's hand in hers as she said, "You can stop worrying about losing whatever it is you're trying to remember because if it is what I think it is, then there is absolutely no way that you will ever lose it, no matter what happens. You've lost your memories, that is true, but you are still Iymo Karci, the man I lo-"

Smacking her hand over her mouth in horror, Iymo looked at her questioningly and inquired, "The man you what?"

The blush ran through Orihime's cheeks as the blood raced through her head in order to help her frantically thinking brain come up with an acceptable response before she said in a small voice, "The man I…look up too."

Before Iymo could say anything, Orihime suddenly burst out, "Oh my, look at me! I came out here for a short break when I should really be inside doing something useful. Please excuse me!"

Without giving Iymo any time to respond, Orihime dashed around him and raced towards the house. For the rest of the day, Orihime immersed herself completely in her work so that she almost missed eating lunch or dinner had it not been for Rinu coming and prying her away from whatever she was doing at the time. After dinner, Orihime was about to go back and check on some more patients when she was intercepted by Nano.

"You have been working all day. Go relax or you won't be any good to anyone tomorrow since you'll be dead on your feet."

Nano's tone immediately quelled any protests before they could exit Orihime's mouth, so Orihime gave Nano a small smile and subconsciously made her way outside for a breath of fresh air and to help clear away all the cluttered thoughts rolling around in her mind. Before she knew what had happened, she discovered her feet had once more taken her to the old bench only this time she allowed herself to sit down in order to assemble her thoughts.

As she allowed herself to relax, she began to wonder about what had happened to everyone she had come to know and love in Cranbury all those years ago, especially Iano and Tisha. This was not the first time she had thought about such things, but as before for some reason Orihime felt that she should not try and find out. It was not for lack of information available, as Orihime had heard Mr. and Mrs. Karci talk about having family records and pictures stored in the attic and basement to keep them safe as they had redone the house in order to transform it into a kind of hospital, that Orihime decided not to seek out the truth about her former friends, but the feeling similar to her peeking at a Christmas present crept over her whenever she considered the idea, so she just went about her work instead.

As she sat reminiscing, she did not hear the sound of running footsteps and heavy breathing until she suddenly felt a pair of strong hands grasp her shoulders from behind. Letting out a startled cry, Orihime spun around and confronted the frantic countenance of a familiar man.

Before Orihime could say anything, the man began almost roughly pulling Orihime to her feet saying, "You have to come now, Nurse Inoue! Come with me right now!"

Orihime tried to put a calm and reassuring hand on the man's arm saying, "Everything will be just fine. Please try to take a few deep breaths and calm do-"

The man refused to be calm and instead grabbed Orihime's wrist and started walking away saying, "There's no time! We need to go now! You have no ide-"

"Hey! Let her go right now before I break your arm!"

Turning her head, Orihime was not at all surprised to see Iymo racing headlong towards them and the man came around Orihime in order to confront Iymo in his agitation. Orihime had a sinking feeling that in a few seconds there would be an all-out brawl between Iymo and the other man if she didn't do something fast, but no ideas were coming to mind when she saw Chad suddenly standing behind the oncoming Iymo, wrapping his arms around his long-time friend and stopping Iymo's progress. Feeling the strong hand letting go of her wrist, Orihime looked to see Uminu restraining the upset man from making any more stupid choices. Giving Chad and Uminu grateful looks for helping her control the situation, Orihime decided it was time to diffuse this explosive situation.

Looking at the struggling Iymo, Orihime said, "Iymo, thank you for your concern over my well-being, but I was never in any real danger. This is Mr. Patrick Crandon and I'm sure he's only come here to take me to his home as his wife must be in labor trying to deliver their first child. Am I right, Mr. Crandon?"

The man in Uminu's hold also stopped squirming and said in a slightly more composed voice, "Yes, that's right. I'm sorry I was so agitated and forceful, but I think something might be wrong. Please come, Nurse Inoue. Please help my wife."

It was quite apparent the man had run all the way from his home and had been in a great hurry as his clothes were muddy and torn all over, probably as a result of him falling down multiple times in his haste to find help. The adrenaline that had been driving him the entire time seemed to be fading as he hung his head and sank to the ground on his hands and knees. As she hurried over to the man's side, Orihime noticed out of the corner of her eyes that Iymo had ceased trying to get away from Chad and so the big man had finally released Iymo.

Orihime placed her hand on the man's shoulder as she said, "I will get my things together and come with you in about two minutes. You must be exhausted, so if it is all right with Mr. Karci I'll ask if we can possibly borrow their automobile. While I'm getting my things together, please come inside and eat or drink something so you can keep your strength up. Your wife will need you to be strong when we get back."

The next two minutes went by in a blur as Orihime collected a few things she thought she might need, including enough personal items for herself in case she had to stay at the Crandon house for several days for whatever reason. Telling the Karci's, Rinu and Nano where she was going, Mr. Karci generously said they could use the automobile and asked Chad to accompany her before Iymo had a chance to say anything.

Just as she was about to climb into the waiting vehicle, Uminu grasped her hand and leaned in towards her ear asking, "Orihime, would you mind if I borrowed your letters? There's something I'd like to confirm from them."

Orihime was so surprised by the request that all she could think of to do was nod her head, to which Uminu grinned and said cryptically, "Thank you. I think everything should be worked out by the time you get back, so don't you worry about anything."

Just as she was about to ask what Uminu meant, she was reminded of her upcoming task by a light touch on her shoulder from Chad and she smiled and waved one more time at the assembly outside the front of the Karci house. Orihime tried her best not to look at Iymo as he looked so worried and dejected over not being able to accompany her as she might be strongly inclined to break her word and ask Rinu or Nano to take her place.

The ride to the Crandon home was intensely silent, like the calm before the storm, for when they arrived at said house there was no rest or quarter given to anyone for the next 20 hours as Orihime struggled to help Una Crandon deliver her children safely into the world. Once they got there and Orihime went to work, she was rather worried at first about how Patrick would act seeing his wife in so much pain, but Orihime needn't have done so. Upon their arrival, Patrick had immediately asked his wife and then Orihime what he could do to help, whether it was boil water, chop fire wood, make coffee or just sit and hold his wife's hand and seemed to thrive on feeling useful. Orihime only had to ask for a few things in the beginning and then after that point, before she could even ask either Patrick or Chad would anticipate her questions and presented her with everything she needed at the proper time.

Finally after a long and difficult battle, Una Crandon gave a mighty push and allowed her firstborn son entered the world. It only took a few moments before the baby discovered that he was supposed to announce his arrival to everyone in Cranbury and the surrounding districts and fulfilled his duty with hearty lungs. However, the adults were not allowed to sit back and bask in their victory just yet as Una still had one more child to usher into the world and this child had a much more difficult entrance.

Upon the small girl's arrival, it became painfully obvious that this little baby did not have the same grasp on life as her brother and was in fact on the very brink of leaving this world almost as soon as she had entered it. So for another 2 hours, Orihime fought to keep the gasping girl alive while her parents and friend took care of the baby boy and watched anxiously as the kind-hearted healer struggled to keep this baby alive with only her tools and skills as a human nurse. Finally, the little girl was no longer struggling to breathe and while she still didn't cry out as lustily as her brother, Orihime was satisfied for the time being that the tiny girl would live to see the sunrise.

By this time, only Orihime was fully awake and so she smiled at the exhausted parents holding each other and their son as they slept and walked over to a rocking chair in the corner of the room and sat down allowing the stress of the past day to drain from her body. Allowing the steady, even breathing from around the room and especially from in her arms to soothe her, Orihime gradually fell asleep.


	38. The true return

The Common Thread: Part 38

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The peace and serenity of early morning hours within the Crandon home was abruptly broken by a thunderous pounding on the front door. All the adults in the house were jerked out of their exhausted sleep and both newborn babies began to howl as if to let the entire world know that they were highly displeased with being so unceremoniously awoken. As Orihime and Una attempted to calm the wailing newborns, Chad and Patrick exchanged a look and as one rose to make their way downstairs to the front door. Orihime and Una looked at each other with matching worried expressions as they heard indistinct voices shouting outside.

Orihime got up and walked over to Una, placing Una's daughter in her arms and saying to the concerned mother, "I'm sure everything will be all right. Just to be sure, I'll wait by the door."

Una nodded in understanding before turning her attention to her bawling twins and Orihime went to block the door in the event of who knew what. From where the bedroom was located, Orihime and Una could hear raised voices coming from the front door, but actually understanding what was being said was absolutely impossible. Suddenly, the sound of running feet on the stairs and Patrick's voice yelling at whomever it was to stop had Orihime nearly panicking. She couldn't let whomever the intruder was enter this room no matter what, so she quickly opened the door, stepped into the hallway and tried to prepare herself for whatever confrontation was heading her way.

Nothing could have prepared her for the sight of Iymo charging around the corner, stopping for a moment upon seeing her and then sprinting forward again with a cry of, "Orihime!"

Before Orihime could force her brain to process the sight she had just witnessed, the next thing she knew she was being hugged tightly by Iymo as the sound of approaching footsteps came closer. In another few moments, Patrick, Chad as well as Uminu rounded the corner all looking quite irritated. Orihime looked at them all with a look of complete bewilderment as Uminu spoke up in a harsh whisper.

"Are you satisfied, Iymo? Just listen to those poor babies wailing as if the end of the world were approaching. Look at what you've done!"

Instead of answering Uminu, Iymo addressed Orihime saying, "I'm sorry about all this. Truly I am, but as soon as I read those letters…it all came back and I just had to see you immediately."

Orihime blinked at Iymo asking the first question that came to mind, "What are you talking about?"

Iymo's response was to lower his face to hers and kiss her long and hard, but sweetly and gently at the same time. While she did enjoy the kiss, at first Orihime was so shocked that all she could do was stare at Iymo's eyelids covering his melted chocolate eyes until after a few moments she simply closed her eyes and kissed him back.

Eventually, Iymo pulled reluctantly away and said, "These past few days…I have no idea what you must have been going through and I'm sorry to have been the cause of such pain. Even if I try to make it up to you for the rest of my life…it will never be enough."

Understanding began to dawn on Orihime as she asked haltingly, "Iymo…are you…do you…"

A second time Iymo answered with a loving kiss and Orihime could not hold back her tears and so they flowed unchecked down her cheeks as she wholeheartedly returned Iymo's kiss. Wrapping her arms around Iymo's neck, Orihime almost lifted herself off the ground as she was holding him so tightly. Iymo didn't seem to mind as he gently stroked Orihime's hair before pulling away.

At this point, Uminu decided to remind the two that they were not alone, so clearing his throat he said, "Hate to break up this little reunion between you two lovebirds, but I believe there is an anxious husband and newly made father who would like an explanation as to why someone just tried to break into his house."

Orihime was curious to hear Iymo's explanation and so gave him an expectant look as the color began to rise in Iymo's neck and cheeks and he turned to the others and said, "Yeah, about that. I am sorry, Patrick, about barging into your house like this. My only thought was that I had to find Orihime right away and not let anyone or anything stop me."

Since everyone but Uminu was still looking at him with blank expressions, Iymo continued, "After dinner last night, Uminu brought me a huge stack of letters which as I read them I discovered that they were letters that had been exchanged between Orihime and me while I was in the army. As I read them, little by little flickers of past memories began to come back so that by the time I came to the last one, everything had pretty much come back to me. How I had met Orihime for the first time at a train station, how I broke my arm and started to fall in love with her, how she used to sit in the drawing room on the window seat and study or read until the sun set and the fading light would make her hair glow, how her eyes would sparkle to match her laugh, and…"

Patrick had approached Iymo while the younger man had been talking and when Iymo began faltering, Patrick laid a hand on Iymo's shoulder and said, "I guess there's no real harm done since it sounds like my wife has calmed our children…down."

When Patrick got to the words 'our children' a look of complete amazement crossed his face as if he had completely forgotten about being a new father (which, in fact, he actually had). Brushing past Iymo and Orihime, Patrick slowly opened the door to the bedroom and was greeted by the sound of his wife's voice.

"I finally managed to help them fall asleep again so lay down carefully next to me so they don't wake up again. Orihime, would you bring Iymo here for a moment, please?"

The two quietly made their way into the bedroom and stood waiting for a few moments before Una said softly, "Well, Iymo, you certainly know how to make an entrance. Next time, you can try those antics in broad daylight when people won't think you are some sort of maniac trying to break in. All though, I can't imagine any criminal trying to enter a house using your method unless they are immensely stupid, but one can't always control what one's mind will think or assume in times of crisis. After hearing your explanation, however, I think both my husband and I can find it in our hearts to forgive you, but believe me…we will never let you forget this night as long as you live."

The last sentence was spoken with a mock air of menace, to which Iymo responded in a joking tone, "I've faced men with guns, bayonets, and bombs in the war but I must say you terrify me more than they did."

Una nodded her head knowingly as she said, "For good reason, and don't you forget it."

After a little more friendly banter, Orihime could tell that Una and Patrick were worn out, so she was about to start ushering Iymo and the other two young men out, when Una spoke up, "Thank you, Nurse Inoue, for everything you've done. You deserve some rest, so why don't you head home and we'll send for you if we need anything else?"

Orihime was about to protest, when Patrick cut her off saying, "Una's right. I don't know what would have happened to her or our children if you weren't here, but I think everyone is pretty much on the mend so you can go home and rest and we'll do the same here. If you wouldn't mind coming back in about two days to make sure everyone is doing well, I would really appreciate it."

Seeing that there was no other alternative than to give in, Orihime nodded saying, "I'll be back here the day after tomorrow then, bright and early since I'm sure you two will be up."

Una smiled as she said, "I guess we'll have to get used to being woken up at all hours of the night, Patrick."

Patrick grimaced and made a face as everyone else simply smiled, so as not to disturb the two who were being referred too.

Orihime, Iymo, Chad and Iymo said their farewells and promised to deliver the news to the other Crandon family members on their way home, as no one had thought to do so or had had the time with all the trauma of the previous day. Patrick winced again as he remarked that his mother would probably skin him alive when she found out that the babies had already arrived and she hadn't been there to hear their first cries. With that, the party of four took their leave.

As Uminu drove them home in the Karci automobile, Orihime felt completely drained emotionally and physically and so laid her head back on the seat to try and fall asleep. In true gentlemanly fashion, Iymo carefully wrapped his arm around Orihime's shoulders and pulled her towards him so that her head was cushioned against his chest. Too tired to protest, Orihime was lulled to sleep by the steady beating of Iymo's heart. A sound Orihime was sure she would never tire of hearing.


	39. Letting everyone in on the secret

The Common Thread: Part 39

Silence. Not the kind that is peaceful and soothing, but the kind where one feels as if the proverbial bomb might go off at any moment. In fact, said bomb did go off about a minute later.

"Ahhh! I'm going to be a father again! My son, why didn't you say something sooner? Oh, my daughter! Welcome to the family!"

"Let her go! You're going to crush her!"

"Dad, listen to Iymo before he breaks your arm. You're going to break her neck or something."

"But Kyan, I'm just embracing my new daughter! What's wrong with that?"

"Dear, Orihime is turning blue."

"Let her go now!"

With that Iymo wrenched Orihime away from Mr. Karci and immediately began to check the almost recently smothered girl who was now revealed to be Iymo's fiancée.

"I'm all right, Iymo."

"Are you sure?"

Orihime smiled at the entire room as she said, "I was actually rather wary of how your family would react when they found out that I hadn't told them about your letter proposal, but this was much better than I had anticipated."

Kyan folded her arms as she said, "I completely understand why you didn't tell us about Iymo's proposal, I'm just confused on one point."

When everyone looked at her, Orihime especially with an anxious expression, Kyan continued, "So why haven't you proposed to this, according to you, incredible young woman properly? Where's the ring?"

Iymo blinked at his sister before he said slowly, "Oh, right. I do need to get one, don't I?"

Mr. Karci yelled, "What do you mean you need to get one? How could you think of even approaching this lovely young woman with the question of marriage on your lips without even following the mandatory first step of buying a ring to show just how much you esteem her? I'm ashamed to call you my son!"

Mrs. Karci chuckled softly as she placed a hand on her husband's shoulder, "Like father, like son, I suppose. Do you really think you are the best person to give any young man a lecture on that point, Dear?"

At this comment, Mr. Karci's began to look like a tomato on the verge of ripening and stuttered, "I don't know what you could mean by that, my darling wife. However, I'm sure these lovely young people wouldn't be at all interested in whatever story you have in mind, so why don't we all retire to th-ouch!"

For some reason, Mr. Karci's sentence was cut off when he suddenly twitched and grasped his arm as if he had received a particularly painful pinch. The only person who could have inflicted such a wound, however, was the sweetly smiling Mrs. Karci who immediately began to elaborate on her earlier comment to her husband.

"While it's not exactly the same situation, as the days go by, I am beginning to see more similarities between you and your father, Iymo."

Holding up her hand to halt Iymo's protests, Mrs. Karci continued, "No two people are exactly alike and it is in no way offensive to say that you share some of the same tendencies as your father. Anyway, as I was saying, Kyan's comment about you not having a ring brings back a fond memory of when your father proposed to me. The evening had been absolutely perfect up until that point when he got down on his knees, reached inside his pocket…only to discover he had forgotten to bring the ring."

A few moments of silence fell over Mrs. Karci's audience before they began to laugh with delight and it took some time until Mrs. Karci could calm them down enough to finish her narrative with, "In fact, upon further investigation, my now dear husband had to admit that he had actually lost the ring somewhere. So, I never actually got to see the original engagement ring he had so carefully selected for me."

Orihime valiantly fought to suppress her laughter and put on a sympathetic expression as she addressed Mr. Karci saying, "I'm sorry it happened. And after all your searching for just the right ring. You must have been devastated."

Mr. Karci pulled a long, melancholy expression as he pulled Orihime into another hug, much gentler than the last one, as he said in a tearful voice, "Oh, my daughter! You are so kind to me! Don't be sorry over something that happened so many years ago since I've managed to move on and put it behind me."

Conversations flowed easily for the next few hours and it was quite a while before anyone cared to look at a clock and realize that it was close to eleven o'clock. Mrs. Karci began ushering people out of the room, admonishing them all to go to bed immediately. Orihime convinced Mrs. Karci to give her a brief reprieve as someone needed to make the first round of examinations on the patients at eleven and Orihime volunteered herself for the job. It took a little time, but Mrs. Karci finally relented.

In the time Orihime took to check all the patient's temperatures and other vital signs, she had the opportunity to allow all that had happened in the past twenty-four hours to be organized in her brain so that things actually started to sink in and make sense. Iymo had regained his memories, proposed to her a second time, had revealed his future plans to his family and her friends all in a day. In her life she had had some strange days, but this one had to top them all. Only, this day had been the best kind of strange one could possibly imagine.

As she finished and prepared to go up to her room for the night, Orihime was so absorbed in her thoughts that she failed to notice Iymo waiting for her at the top of the landing until he said, "So, is everything in order down there?"

For years afterwards, no one could be entirely sure how it had happened and it remained a mystery for the rest of her life. All Orihime could say was that one moment she was opening her mouth to answer Iymo's question and thinking just how beautiful his eyes were shining in the dim light of the house when she felt her right foot give way underneath her. She didn't even have time to let out a startled cry as she felt herself fall backwards and tumble down the flight of stairs. By the time she reached the bottom, she was already unconscious, insensible to Iymo's cries.

**Author's Note:**

As hard as it is for me, it is time for Orihime to head home…after we check in on Ichigo one last time.


	40. Beginning of true understanding

The Common Thread: Part 40

She had almost died. Ichigo ran his hands through his hair as the full implications of what had happened almost three hours previously hit him full force. He just couldn't understand how a girl like Orihime, one who had always been so full of life and encouraging and who seemed to add light to whatever room she entered, had almost died in such a way before he had even gotten a chance to…

Ichigo blinked as he tried to understand what he had just thought. Gotten a chance to what? Asking that question reminded him of another he had asked himself while he had been riding in the ambulance with Orihime after the accident: what exactly was his relationship with Orihime? How could he describe what she meant to him? He had never given much thought to the topic until now because up until now, it had never been important to him. Thinking about his relationships with girls or anyone else for that matter was not something he ever did because with all his other friends once it was established that they were friends that was it, so he couldn't understand why with Orihime calling her just a friend seemed so inadequate. It didn't make sense.

Closing his eyes, Ichigo allowed the soft sound of the monitors showing Orihime's heart beating once again and the occasional sound from the hallway to permeate his thoughts. He was the only one left in the hospital room as Tatsuki had almost gone into hysterics until the doctors finally managed to bring Orihime back from the brink of death. It had taken a lot of shrewd talking, but Ichigo and the others had finally convinced Tatsuki that she was not going to be of any help to Orihime unless Tatsuki went home and rested. Maybe not necessarily sleep, but to get away from the hospital and even then Tatsuki had only been persuaded when the head doctor assured her that he would call her personally the moment anything changed in Orihime's condition. Ichigo and his other friends and not had time to properly thank the doctor for his help in setting Tatsuki's fears to rest, but Ichigo knew that they would all remedy that situation at the first available opportunity.

While Ichigo had initially left with the others to escort Tatsuki home, after they had dropped her off they had parted ways and before he realized it, Ichigo looked around and found himself once again heading inside the hospital and towards Orihime's room where he sat down next to the sleeping girl's head.

Even though she was sleeping peacefully now, Ichigo didn't think he would ever forget how Orihime had technically died for a few minutes before she was revived. The very thought made his blood run cold. The more he thought about it, it suddenly occurred to him that Orihime had been there both times he had technically died in Hueco Mundo. How had she dealt with it? He had died twice in the same day and after all the mental anguish he had just gone through when Orihime's heart had stopped, Ichigo could not figure out how Orihime had managed the pain. Ichigo had never thought of Orihime as useless, as she sometimes had described herself, but he had never really seen her as a particularly strong person, however, in light of this realization, he could find no other word to describe her other than strong and resilient.

All these realizations did not help him answer the question of just what his relationship with Orihime truly was. What was it about her that had him to baffled? Why was the thought of losing her so unbearable?

Unconsciously, Ichigo reached out and took Orihime's limp hand between his as he said in an almost pleading tone, "Orihime, please come back. Please come back to me."

**Author's Note:**

I thought I'd keep this chapter short and to the point…just like Ichigo.


	41. Calling her home

The Common Thread: Part 41

Someone was calling her name. Actually, there was more than one someone calling out to her. It took her a few moments to notice, but all of them shared the same voice. He was pleading with her to come back. Irodonio, Iano, Idino, Iymo and Ichigo. They all needed her. She needed to go to them, let them know everything was going to be all right. So she opened her eyes. Darkness met her gaze.

Well, this is certainly not helpful, thought Orihime, If I can't see where they are then how am I supposed to know what's wrong and how to fix things?

Then Orihime's heart began to race as another possibility occurred to her. Maybe she was now blind. All those hits to the head had probably taken away her sight. Trying to quell her growing panic, Orihime tried stretching out her hands towards where all the voices were coming from.

"I'm right here. I'm just fine. Please, don't worry anymore."

It was obvious they hadn't heard her since they continued to plead with Orihime to be all right. With each entreaty, Orihime's heart became more and more torn as she heard the panic and desperation rising in his voice. They couldn't hear her and she couldn't comfort them. This was the worst kind of torture imaginable for Orihime to have to endure.

As soon as the thought entered her head, four bright lights appeared. It took some time for her eyes to adjust and once she was able to look at them, she saw that they were showing her Irodonio, Iano, Idino and Iymo. As the images came into focus, Orihime was confused for a moment to see all four of them cradling someone in their arms. Someone with long caramel colored…then it hit her. She was seeing all these men holding her seemingly lifeless body and begging her not to leave them.

Irodonio seemed to have carried her back inside Ura's Shop as she seemed to be lying in the bed Ura and Yori had allowed her to occupy, while her other friends were standing anxiously in the background. Hani was kneeling next to Orihime's head carefully applying what looked like cold cloths to Orihime's forehead.

When she looked to where Iano was, Orihime noticed that his clothes were soaked and she remembered that she had struck her head on a rock in the river and it would seem that Iano was the one who had saved her. Umara and Garrow did look on in concern, but they had their hands full with securing Traydon with what looked like a picnic blanket torn up in strips. Lily, Nell and Yanu were trying to restrain Tisha from throwing herself over Orihime's body while Karen was helping her brother to try and revive Orihime.

Idino was cradling Orihime in his arms, sitting against the lockers with bodies of E.T.'s scattered around. Tyzuki appeared to have returned with help as not one of the E.T.'s had been left alive and the people were busy trying to clear away the mess. Someone who looked like a doctor seemed to be trying to convince Idino to let him examine Orihime. Tyzuki knelt next to Idino and simply stared incoherently at Orihime's face.

Looking to the last image, Orihime saw Iymo carefully bearing her limp form through the hallways of the house turned hospital. After a few more moments, the Karci family as well as her friends appeared and immediately set to work trying to coax Orihime to wake up.

What could she do? She had to do something, but what?

As painful as this is for you, keep watching, said a gentle voice in Orihime's head.

Despite the tears threatening to well up, Orihime forced herself to continue watching the unfolding scenes. In another few moments, Orihime saw herself wake up in each scene. Every scene she looked towards the reactions were basically the same. Tears were either dried completely, or where once had fallen tears from pain filled eyes, those same eyes began to fill with joyful tears. Even though she had no idea how that had just happened, her tears began to fall in relief as well that everyone was happy once again. Then something she never could have anticipated occurred. In all four scenes, the men whom she had fallen in love with one by one leaned forward and kissed her gently but passionately. What confused Orihime the most was that she could feel her own lips growing warm in response, but she by no means disliked the sensation.

Keep watching, said the voice again, but this time Orihime needed no encouragement to do so.

All four scenes grew blurry for a time and when they cleared up again, Orihime could not believe what she was seeing. She was getting married in all four scenes. With Irodonio, it appeared that they were exchanging their vows inside Ura's Shop while Iano was putting a ring on her hand in a beautiful and enormous church. Orihime could not tell where she was lighting a candle with Idino, but he looked immensely dashing in his suit. Iymo Karci seemed to be escorting his new bride onto a train in the very same station where they had first met and where apparently they had bound themselves to one another. In all the scenes, the faces of the friends and family she had grown to love were shining with love and joy with the happy couple.

Again the scenes went out of focus and then came back into focus showing different stages of life at a very rapid pace. She was attending Reggi and Raquina's wedding with Irodonio, while Iano was sitting next to her witnessing Tisha and Umara as well as Nell and Garrow holding a double wedding. Idino seemed to be chasing several small children down the hallways of the space colony while Tyzuki was scolding him for not being able to act like a proper father and control his children. Iymo was going through old family photos and records with her in the attic. Scene after scene of what could only be described as 'happily ever after' endings were flashing before her eyes.

It took her a few moments before she realized that she was still crying and not necessarily happy tears. As she kept gazing at the four lights showing her all these happy images, gradually one voice became painfully clear. It was Ichigo, and he was still asking her to come back to him.

It is time for you to return to your own time, said the soothing voice, Return to him.

Taking one last look at the four lights, Orihime smiled as the four scenes began to fade from her sight. In her heart, Orihime knew that in each lifetime everything had worked out and that she now had to go back to her first love.

-

A feather light pressure on his fingers attracted Ichigo's attention. For a few moments, he stared at his hands in confusion before he turned his gaze automatically to Orihime's face. Her eyes were open, clear and gazing at him with an expression of tenderness. His mind went blank and his body had no idea how to react so he simply sat there returning Orihime's gaze.

Orihime smiled and said in her soft, soothing voice, "I've come back, Ichigo."

Instinctively, Ichigo leaned over Orihime's bed until he could touch her forehead with his own. Neither said anything for several minutes until finally Ichigo found his voice again and said in his most gentle and relieved tone.

"You came back."

**Author's Note:**

I never really came up with a really good reason for Orihime's sort of 'time-traveling', so I'll leave that up to your guys' imaginations.

At some point, I might write more detailed accounts of events that transpired in the different lifetimes, since I had so much fun 'creating' those worlds, so you all can keep your eyes peeled for some of those stories (I'm thinking at this point sometime in the spring…when hope springs eternal, or something like that…)

And so we come to the end of our road…or do we?


	42. How it all ends

The Common Thread: The Finale

"It's Christmas Eve!"

"Keigo! Look out for th-"

Crash! Bang! Thump.

A few moments of silence before a groan of, "Owie."

Tatsuki's exasperated voice cut through the air saying, "When will you learn, Keigo? You versus a locked door and you taking a running start at said door is never going to end well."

Keigo groaned again as he began to sit up, ruefully rubbing his head as he asked, "Can't you have a little more sympathy for me?"  
>Mizuiro spoke up, "You should be more careful, Keigo."<p>

Keigo looked hopefully and gratefully at Mizuiro as the boy continued, "If you had damaged the door in any way it would probably not have been easy to fix and this place might have needed to buy an entirely new door."

As Keigo's face fell, Mizuiro and Tatsuki as well as the rest of the usual group continued on their way as if nothing had happened. With Keigo glumly trying to get to his feet, he was not able to hear Orihime whisper to the others asking if they thought he was really all right or if he needed medical attention.

Ichigo draped his arm around Orihime's shoulders as he said carelessly, "He's fine. Don't worry about it."

Orihime felt her cheeks heat up as she tried to act casual even though her heart was racing in reaction to Ichigo's touch.

Over six months after 'The Accident' as the friends now called it, things had returned to the way they were before…that is, up until recently, in the beginning of December, to be specific. After Orihime had been released from the hospital about two weeks after The Accident, she had noticed a change in Ichigo as well as in her other friends.

For a time, Tatsuki had taken to calling her about six to ten times a day during summer vacation just so that she could be sure that Orihime was safe when the girl was out of Tatsuki's sight. As time went on and Orihime allowed things to run their course, Tatsuki eventually became her old, confidant self who would look out for Orihime but was not a kind of 'helicopter parent' always having to make sure their 'child' was safe from everything.

Uryu, Chad, Mizuiro and Keigo had been of enormous help to her during her recuperation period in helping with different tasks around her house. At one point during the summer, her plumbing had sprung some small leaks and her landlord and refused to do anything about it. Somehow Uryu and Chad heard about it, came over and repaired the plumbing so well that she could almost swear it worked even better than it had before. Mizuiro and Keigo had forcibly taken over cleaning her apartment during her first week or so home, refusing to listen to her protests and politely declining any sort of payment for their troubles.

As for Ichigo, he had also popped up periodically, always coming with one of their friends, over the summer to check in and see how she was doing and to help in whatever way. She had noticed when he had come over, Ichigo had seemed rather quiet and thoughtful. Not that he had ever talked to her much before, but he had become even more distant in a way than before. Also, when he came over, there had been times when her attention was elsewhere or her back was turned, that she could have sworn that Ichigo had been looking at her intensely, as if trying to figure something out. As with Tatsuki, she decided not to talk to him about it and let him be until he wanted to talk to her about whatever it was that seemed to be bothering him.

He had finally approached her on December 4, after school, saying, "Hey, you have a minute, Orihime?"

She had nodded and quietly followed him to a more secluded hallway and waited for him to speak until he abruptly asked, "Am I your friend, Orihime?"

Pause. "Yes, of course you are, Ichigo. You've become one of my best friends this past year."

Ichigo had run a hand through his hair as he said, "I see. Do you only see me as a friend, or do you think about me in any other way?"

Orihime had blinked and turned away thoughtfully as she replied, "Well, I'm not entirely sure if this will answer your question, but in Hueco Mundo I did see you as a savior. You came to save me and no matter what the Espada tried to do to you, no matter how badly you were wounded, you didn't let anything stop you from fighting your hardest for my sake. I'll never be able to repay or thank you enough because I witnessed your pain and I saw you sacrifice yourself…to save me."

"Speaking of Hueco Mundo…I've kind of wanted to ask you, but it never seemed like the right time…umm…Both times after Ulquiorra 'killed' me, when I woke up you were the first person I saw so…you had to see me 'dead'…so I was wondering…umm…"

Walking over to the window, Orihime had finished Ichigo's sentence saying, "What was it like seeing you lying lifeless in front of me? The first time, I felt numb and slightly queasy, but once Grimmjow ordered me to heal you, for some reason I began to feel confident that I could bring you back and I did."

In a softer tone, Orihime had continued, "When Ulquiorra killed you the second time, I don't know if you knew this, but I actually saw him do it. I saw him use his cero to blow a hole through your chest and then throw you from the top of the tower. Even though I ran over and summoned my healing shield immediately, deep in my heart I was shaken…devastated, in fact. During all of your battles against the Espada, whenever you received a wound and cried out in pain, it was almost as if I could feel your pain as well somewhere in my heart and I hurt with you. I couldn't stand to see you in pain. So when I saw you killed…I can't really describe it any other way than to say that I think it felt as though a part of me had died as well. My determination was completely shattered and I doubted my own abilities. I had no idea what to do, especially when Uryu was severely injured trying to buy me some time while I was healing you and then…well, you know what happened after that. You came back and saved me once again because I was so useless-huh?"

Upon hearing her last sentence, Ichigo had firmly taken her hand and turned her around to face him as he said firmly, "Don't ever say that again."

Orihime had asked timidly, "Say what?"

"Say that you're useless. I wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for you and neither would some of our friends. You are strong in your own way."

Ichigo had let go of Orihime's wrist before putting his hands behind his head, turning to the window and saying, "I've been thinking a lot these past months…mostly about you. To be perfectly honest, it started happening on the day of your accident and it's just kind of snowballed since then. I never told you, but when you were being put in the ambulance, one of the medics asked if I was your boyfriend and I said that you were just a good friend, like you did just now. As soon as I said it though, something didn't seem right about it and for the longest time I couldn't figure out what was wrong."

He had let out a long breath before he continued, "You've been told that at one point your heart completely stopped in the hospital. Well, when that happened…I can't even begin to tell you how panicked I felt when I thought that you could possibly die and even still I couldn't figure out why the thought of you dying and leaving was so unimaginably…devastating."

Scratching his head furiously with one hand, Ichigo had said, "I'm not good at this kind of thing and I can't believe that I'm actually saying these things out loud right now, but these past months I've seen you differently. Ever since you left the hospital, when I'm around you…it almost feels as if I'm getting to know you and the more I discover about you, the more I want to be with you. You're going to think I sound positively insane, but it's kind of like when you're around…I'm drawn to you by some strong force and I feel at peace…like I've found something that I've been searching for."

Orihime had not said anything for a time until she eventually reached down and taken one of Ichigo's hands in both of hers and said, "Maybe what you're trying to say is that you like me."

Ichigo had shaken his head and said, "I don't like you, Orihime."

Orihime had blushed crimson, quickly dropped his hand, stammered out an apology for being so forward and prepared to dash away in disgrace when she had felt Ichigo's strong, battle-scarred hands clasp hers firmly yet gently.

"Orihime, the reason I said I don't like you is because…because I think I love you."

The two had stood in silence for what felt like hours before Orihime barely managed, "You…love…me?"

In response, Ichigo had awkwardly leaned down and placed his lips gently on Orihime's forehead. He had then looked into Orihime's eyes to gauge her reaction before he had hesitantly lowered his head again to kiss her cheek. In the next moment, it had seemed that Ichigo had finally worked up the courage to take the plunge as he switched from Orihime's cheek to kissing her full on the mouth. For a few moments, both had simply stood there and allowed the sensation to seep through their conscious minds that they were actually kissing. The kiss had been long, sweet and chaste with a sense of awe and unbelief of what had just happened. When the two of them mutually broke the kiss together, they had looked into each other's face to make sure that the emotions they felt inwardly were also reflected in the other's eyes.

Orihime had said after a time, "I love you Ichigo. I have for a while now."

Ichigo had smiled in response and said, "Well, then, I guess the next most logical step would be to officially ask you out."

So now on Christmas Eve, they had been dating for not even a month and Orihime could not remember a time when she had been so happy. Ichigo was still Ichigo in that he was not a sentimental guy and didn't necessarily like to advertise their relationship. However, he had made it abundantly clear on a number of occasions that he was in no way ashamed of his relationship with or love for Orihime when he had knocked several stupid kids' heads together when they made snide remarks about him or especially his girlfriend. Once or twice, he had gently reached for Orihime's hand in school and when they were out in public, he would either hold her hand or place her hand in the crook of his elbow and escort her around.

Orihime was brought out of her reveries when Ichigo said to her quietly, "Hey, can we slow down for a second?"

As she nodded her head, she matched her footsteps to Ichigo's and watched as the rest of her friends got further and further in front of them until they were out of immediate earshot.

Ichigo stopped for a moment and began rummaging through his pockets as he said, "I just wanted to give you your Christmas present before we headed home and I didn't really want to give it to you in front of them so…here."

In return, Orihime said, "Well then, I guess this would be the best time to give you your Christmas present."

After handing the other their gift, they both opened their presents at the same time. Orihime opened a small jewelry box to reveal a ring with blue stones set in the shape of a flower. Ichigo unwrapped a knitted hat, scarf and set of gloves Orihime had made herself. Once the gifts were opened, the two looked at each other and neither felt the need to say in words what they could simply express in the form of a kiss.

The two broke apart when Uryu's voice called back to them, "Well, well, would you look at that? It would seem Ichigo actually does know how to treat Orihime properly. I guess the idiot is finally learning from his mistakes in the past."

Before Ichigo could say anything, Orihime gently grasped Ichigo's face and pulled him back in for a kiss. When they pulled apart, Orihime gave him a searching look and Ichigo nodded his head grudgingly in understanding.

Orihime could not begin to imagine what the future might bring in her relationship with Ichigo, but something told her that now that their paths had crossed and intertwined, their lives would never be quite the same and that the threads of their separate lives would eventually become one.

**Author's Note:**

And here, I lay down my pen…for the time being. Thank you to everyone who have sent me such kind comments letting me know how much you enjoyed this story. Every last one meant so much so I send you all the biggest hugs and sweetest chocolate chip cookies you can imagine! Thank you!


End file.
